


A Moment In Time With You

by Strawmari



Category: Good Girls (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Angst, Boxing, Carnival Games, Christmas, Developing Relationship, Drugs, F/F, F/M, Family, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gangs, Graduation, Guns, Homecoming Dance, Mild Smut, Organized Crime
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-24
Updated: 2020-11-22
Packaged: 2021-02-18 07:21:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 36,360
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21540547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Strawmari/pseuds/Strawmari
Summary: Rio was born into crime, an heir to his father's business and Beth was his neighbor.
Relationships: Annie Marks/Noah, Annie Marks/Original Female Character, Beth Boland/Rio, Ruby Hill/Stan Hill
Comments: 158
Kudos: 669





	1. Five years old

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Snippets of Rio and Beth from the age of five and up, while the story may bounce around some, the plan is for it to come full circle. 
> 
> AU- I hope you enjoy!!! 
> 
> I don't own any characters/shows and any similarities to other ffs are coincidental.

It was an average day in the Marks household, Beth was playing tea party with her mom and counting down the hours until her dad came home. They were having ice cream for dessert, he already called saying he picked up her favorite fudge brownie sundae, with extra whipped cream. It tasted like heaven. 

There was a knock on the door which was uncommon, the neighborhood was quiet and everyone kept to themselves. There were no block parties, no play dates and no bingo for the adults while the kids were at school. Beth’s mom, Cindy, opened the door to reveal a little boy with his two parents. 

“Hi, I’m Camilla, this is my husband Leon and our son Rio. We just moved next door and wanted to introduce ourselves” she said, extending her hand.

Cindy took it “Beth, honey come here for a second”.

Beth ran to the door with her teddy bear in hand, hiding behind her mom’s leg when she saw the strangers staring back at her. The woman gave a small wave, while the man looked less than thrilled to be there. The house next door had been vacant for years, at least three, so having a friendly family move in was a nice change of pace.

“How old are you? Four?” Camilla asked, bending down so she was at eye level.

Beth peeked out from behind her mom’s thigh, shaking her head. “Five”.

“No way, my Rio here is five too”.

Beth stepped rest the way out until she was face to face with the little boy. He had on converse, black jeans and a checkered yellow and black shirt that was buttoned all the way up. He offered her a small smile. “Hi”.

“Hi”.

“This is a waste of time, I have a meeting in the morning” Leon complained, and put his hand on Rio’s back, leading him towards the house. Camilla apologized for her husband’s actions, but stated he was a busy man and work always came first. For the Marks it was always family first and everything else second. 

The following Monday was Rio’s first day at school. He was enrolled in the same kindergarten class as Beth, not on purpose, there were only two classes taught. Camilla walked Rio to the corner bus stop, other kids were already waiting and she could sense his hesitation. It was hard enough going to a new school, yet alone being surrounded by people you didn’t know. 

When they loaded onto the bus, Beth moved to the back to sit next to him. He was her neighbor, it was only right for her to show him the ropes. Like where the best nap spots were at and where the teacher hid the best toys. Her favorite was the light bright, she liked making flowers with the pegs.

“I like Ninja Turtles” Beth said, looking over at his lunch box. Hers was Mickey and Minnie Mouse, with a bow for a latch. She had cried in the grocery store aisle until she got it. Rio stopped fidgeting with the bottom of his shirt and turned to her. “Who you favorite?”.

“Uh.. red”.

They spent the rest of the bus ride talking about their favorite cartoons and which characters they liked best. Even though they didn’t know how to pronounce half of them; they seemed to understand exactly what the other was saying. When the bus pulled up to the school, Rio stayed close to Beth. She helped him pick out a cubbyhole for his lunch box, mark his spot on the carpet and even introduced him to the teacher.

“Mrs. Jones, my bestest friend Rio” she exclaimed, a wide smile plastered on her face.

“Would you like to read first today?”. He shook his head and the teacher didn’t push anymore. 

They became inseparable, spending every possible second together. When they woke up on the weekends, they would instantly want to rush over to the other’s house, even when they were told to have breakfast first.

“I can eat there mommy”.

“No Beth, you eat your cereal first then you can go play. He will still be there when you finish”.

She groaned, picking up a spoonful of fruit loops “fine”. Once she finished, Beth took a run for it out the back door and Cindy quickly caught up. She let Beth step up to the door, lightly knocking three times. It opened to reveal Camilla with a big smile on her face. “Are you looking for Rio?”.

She quickly nodded, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear. “He’s been looking for you too, what do you say we go find him, hmm?”.

The door was opened further so she could enter. Rio was always in the backyard. When he wasn’t playing soccer, he was on the swing set, and Beth loved that swing set. It had a slide and monkey bars, it was like a park behind his house. She only had a kiddie pool behind hers, but it was fall and her mom wouldn’t let her blow it up.

“Five, four, three, two, one, ready or not here I come” Beth yelled, running around his backyard. She looked under the slide, then the patio and was about to give up when she heard a sneeze coming from behind the shed. She snuck around the far side, letting out a loud “got you”.

Rio surrendered with his small arms up in the air. It was now Beth’s turn. He brought his hands up to cover his eyes, counting down from ten as she had. “Eight, seven, six, five” removing his hands early to see her scamper around the yard.

“Four, three, two, one, ready or not Elizabeth here I come”.

He pretended he didn’t cheat by checking the tree house first, inevitably finding her behind the tree. She was squatting down with her knees tucked to her chest, even if he hadn’t cheated, he still would've seen part of her head peeking out. 

“You’re too good at this game, I want to play Connect Four” Beth pouted, he had won the majority of the rounds and while she wasn’t terrible at it, he moved a lot quieter than she did. 

They went through the back door to dig through his toy chest. Rio was always more than willing to switch to whatever Beth wanted to play next. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! I'm on tumblr xstrawmari if you want to talk Good Girls!


	2. Six years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fast forward one year. With time, comes change.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank everyone for reading, leaving kudos and comments. I loved reading your thoughts! 
> 
> Side note: writing young Brio is so hard. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

Beth snuck down the stairs looking for a snack, what she didn't expect to hear was her mom and dad whispering in the kitchen.

"How are we going to tell her? She's going to be heartbroken".

"They're six".

"Ben, he's her best friend. If he's going to another school, it's going to matter to her".

"Why's he going?" Beth asked, stepping onto the tiled floor. Her mom gave a 'told you so' face and went to pick her up. 

Beth started to cry and while she wasn't sure why she was, it felt right. She didn't need to grasp the whole situation to know that Rio going to another school, meant she would see him less, a lot less.

"But mommy I don't want him to go".

She wiped her nose with her pajama sleeve, her breath catching with each sob that released. Cindy could only rub her back and whisper that everything will work out in the end. Her dad was never one for emotions, so he got up and went to the couch.

"How about you go to bed and we'll go see him tomorrow. You like that idea?".

Beth nodded, wiping her eyes for good measure. She woke up bright and early, bouncing on her parents' bed. If she had limited time with Rio, she wanted to make the most of it. However, it was six in the morning on a Saturday, and Cindy had hoped all the crying Beth did last night would allow for them to sleep in. 

"Let's go mommy" Beth tugged at her arm, pulling on the blankets in the process. 

"Nuh uh. You're going to eat breakfast first, then we'll go over if they're up".

"He is up, he called on the walkie".

Cindy wiped the sleep from her eyes, she knew those toys would do more harm than good. Camilla had found them at the store, a set of two yellow walkie talkies and thought it'd be a great way for them to talk when they had to go home for the day. What neither of them expected was that they'd use them bright and early trying to meet up.

"Ok, but you're still eating breakfast first. Come on bubba" Cindy picked Beth up and carried her into the kitchen, letting her do her best to climb on the stool as she poured fruit loops into a bowl.

She quickly ate the small bowl of cereal, despite her mom requesting she slow down so she doesn't choke. Beth didn't wait for her mom to rinse out the dish, instead she ran out the backdoor towards the Vasquez house.

"Beth" Cindy sighed, taking off after her daughter, not even bothering to close the screen door behind her. By the time she caught up, Beth's tiny fist was already knocking. Her mom was about to say they must've went back to sleep when Camilla opened the door.

"Hi there, you looking for Rio?".

She nodded, a small smile on her face. Rio's mom stepped to the side letting Beth slide past her. Cindy called out for her to have fun, but Beth was already running through the house as if it were her own.

"She's having a tough time with your son switching schools, I hope you don't mind".

"Oh please, Rio was just as bad. He threw an action figure at the wall last night".

They could hear the kids in the back running around. While they were sad they weren't going to the same school, they'd still be neighbors the majority of the time. 

"I'm sorry about my ex-husband, he seems to think private school will better prepare Rio".

"Prepare him for life?".

Camilla didn't answer, instead stating she'd drop Beth off once they were done playing. The neighborhood all had their theories on the Vasquez's and how they earned their money. Some believed Leon was in the mafia, others wanted to believe his tough exterior was a cover for an artist. Cindy was leaning more towards the former. More than once she'd see SUVs pull up at strange hours, carrying briefcases and duffle bags to and from. It didn't stop her from letting Beth hang out with Rio, not that her daughter would allow her to anyways.

-

Beth sat next to Rio as silence hovered over them. His swing was at a stand still and she was twisting on hers trying to figure out what to say.

"You're my best friend" she said, poking his hand resting on the chain.

"Mine too".

-

After begging and pleading for weeks, on both their ends, Beth finally got to visit Rio during his dad's week. 

"Grab your blanket honey, you don't want to forget that" Cindy said, folding up a spare pair of pajamas into the overnight bag. One night, that's what Leon had agreed too. He said Rio needed to focus and didn't need the distractions. She tried to ask what that meant and how dare he call her daughter a distraction, but she'd save that for their face to face. 

Beth made her way in with her blanket and teddy bear. She didn't need her stuffed animal to sleep, it was mainly in case a scattered thunderstorm rolled through, after all it was Summer, it was plausible.

"I put our number in this pocket, hand it to Rio's dad when you get to the car".

Beth nodded. She started tugging at the bag straps, already losing interest in the conversation.

"Who do you give the number too?".

"Rio's daddy".

"You're so smart" Cindy pressed a kiss to her forehead, grabbing her hand as they made their way to the front door. It was perfect timing too, the black SUV she had seen several times pulled up to the curb, Rio's head was barely visible from the back window. Beth waved, pulling her mom with her toward the car.

"Feel free to call if she needs anything, or if she causes trouble" Cindy passed the bag over to Leon, who finished leading Beth to the car.

"Have fun sweetie".

Once Beth's seat belt was fastened, the kids started to talk about everything that happened the days prior. How Rio was signed up for little league and how Beth helped make cookies. She even got her mom to pack a baggie of chocolate chip to share with him. They drove for forty-five minutes to the outskirts of Detroit, pulling into a warehouse parking lot.

There was an armed guard at the front gate and a couple men roaming the grounds. Beth slowly opened her door once Rio did. Leon dismissed the guard, holding open the door for the kids to enter first. The warehouse halls were dark except a couple dim lights on the wall, the silence caused their footsteps to sound twice as heavy. Beth was led to a room on the far side of the building, seeing a bunk bed against the back wall. The top mattress had spiderman sheets, the bottom had Cinderella. 

"Rio, we'll practice in a bit" he looked at Beth "and you can stay here".

She didn't know what they were practicing or why she couldn't tag along, but she vaguely remembered him wanting Rio to take over the family business. Did he work in an office like her dad did?

"Look" Rio exclaimed, pulling out a candyland board game from his toy chest. Beth bounced excitedly on the bed, doing her best not to bump her head. They had been in the middle of a round when he had to leave last time.

They sat in front of the beds to start a new game. Rio drew a single green block card and moved his pawn accordingly; Beth then grabbed a pink double block card pulling further ahead. They were halfway around the board when his dad flew in "Rio you don't got time to play games, she can finish it".

"We almost done".

"Now!" Leon raised his voice and Beth's eyes widened. She gathered up the pieces into the box and folded the board on top of it, she didn't want Rio to get yelled at again.

Rio shuffled his feet out of the room, feeling curious, Beth followed once they were far enough down the hall. She wound up in a room with a boxing bag and large wrestling mat, deciding it would be best to hide behind the chair.

He had on black boxing gloves and was striking the bag, once, then twice, before his dad stopped to correct his form.

"Left, right, bend your knees..and stop being scared of it".

Rio gave a few more punches, until a man entering pulled his father's attention away from him and eventually from the room.

"That's cool" Beth said, finally deciding to come out of hiding.

"Wanna try?".

He passed her the gloves, which were to big around her fists, but still she tried. She punched twice like she had seen him do moments before, only the bag didn't move. Rio showed her once more with his barefists, wincing once they connected with the bag. The third try Beth got a little movement from the bag, but that's when gunshots rang out.

Rio pulled Beth to the ground, crawling toward the table, wrapping his arms around her.

"I'm scared".

"It go away" he whispered, bringing them both closer to the ground. He wasn't crying, screaming, in fact he was completely calm. How often did this happen? and what exactly was it?

It was a daily exercise for Leon's employees (gang members to be exact). There was a separate, restricted part of the warehouse that doubled as a shooting range. In their line of work they couldn't afford any mishaps, if you messed up, you died.

The shots continued for another five, ten minutes before silence retook the building. Rio held onto Beth the entire time, doing his best to shield her from the sound.

"You okay?" Rio asked, pulling them both to their feet. Beth nodded, taking his hand in her own. They left the boxing gloves under the table and walked back to the room, they had a candyland game to finish. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I spent many hours at work today outlining the smut chapter (like 4 ish away) because priorities lol
> 
> I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the chapter & thanks again for reading! <3


	3. Thirteen years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time jump, but has anything really changed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your comments, you guys are the sweetest! 
> 
> Here's a quick fluff filler chapter (I couldn't help myself, I really couldn't combine it with anything), before they get touchy...feely (because why change who Rio is, right?) ENJOY!

Rio had practice on the weeks he was with his dad, it was mandatory. Either his dad or his cronies would take him into the shooting range, line up some paper targets and let him go. Since it was summer Beth had nothing to do, and his dad was more willing to let her hang around. She figured he saw it as a losing battle, Rio was more cooperative when she was allowed to stay over. 

"Hit that button" Rio directed, pointing toward the door. Beth did and it brought the targets out from the wall.

He handed her a set of ear muffs "here, ya need these".

Beth laughed, putting them over her ears. It was her first time in the gun range, she wasn't even sure if she was supposed to be there, she just walked in after Rio. He said he would show her what he learned while they were apart. Beth had been sent to camp for two weeks, her mom didn't care for her protests. 

He stood on the chalk line in the middle of the floor, aiming the gun at the target. Five shots, one after another rung out in the room, the sound of bullet casings pinging to the floor below. 

Beth watched in awe as the sheet was brought toward him. He pulled it down and she saw five holes "do you just like...shoot?".

"Nah, dad says aim for the heart and head.''

"Why?".

Rio shrugged, folding up the target sheet and turning on the safety. He had to turn them in to his dad as proof he practiced for the day, crime homework, who would've thought.

"Can I try?" Beth asked, following after him. She had never used a gun before in her life, but Rio made it seem so easy. 

He laughed, shaking his head. "Got them pellet guns at the fair".

Fair enough. Beth texted Ruby to see if she was still there with Stan, they were and decided to meet up at the midway. The midway was filled with carnival rides and rigged games of chance. Rio and Stan had only met one other time, when they went to see a movie, Beth can't even remember the name now.

-

They made a beeline to the shooting game. Ruby went first, hitting one target which didn't earn her a prize. Beth did a little better, hitting two and a half targets, she pinged the third one and was sure it had to count for something. 

"That really don't count?" She pouted, standing back next to Ruby.

"I give ya three". 

Ruby rolled her eyes at Rio praising Beth's failed attempt, she was keeping it real, Beth did just as bad as she did.

Up third was Stan, he got six targets which earned him a small prize, he got a keychain of Winnie the Pooh for Ruby. It got a little awkward when he mentioned he wanted to be a police officer when he grew up, the girls were well aware which path Rio's dad wanted him to go down.

It was the main event of sorts when Rio stepped up to the stand. While the gun was more decorative than an equalizer, and was at least three times bigger than the handgun he used at the warehouse, he had no trouble shooting all eight targets.

"Are you an assassin kid?" the carnie asked, pointing to the selection of large stuffed animals off to the side. 

"Whatchu want Elizabeth?".

"Uh.. the green bear".

The carnie handed it over to Rio, who instantly passed it to Beth. She squeezed it to her chest, walking double time to catch up to Ruby and Stan, Rio right on her heels.

She waited until he caught up. "You have to teach me that, it's so cool".

"Ok". He gave off a shy smile, watching as Beth squeezed the bear once more.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so so much for reading!! I hope you liked it & I can't wait to read your thoughts! <3
> 
> I have the next couple chapters drafted out and they just end smutty.. yeahhh.


	4. Fifteen years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's a first time for everything

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the comments on the last chapter, loved reading each one!
> 
> Don't hate me for adding Dean, I couldn't help it.
> 
> Enjoy!

Homecoming week was upon them, the theme for the dance had been revealed, under the sea. Sure, it was cliche and several schools had done it before, but Beth was a fan. Little Mermaid was her favorite movie growing up, she even had strawberry blonde hair, it was perfect. Her first thought was automatically to invite Rio, he was her best friend and there was nobody else she'd rather be with, well except Ruby, that was her ride or die. They were glued to each others hips since the age of ten, and that was never going to change.

The principal had to rain on her parade, of course he did, saying that non students weren't permitted at the dance. There was security concerns that they might cause trouble. Bullshit, what was she to do now? Ruby had already agreed to go with Stan and she didn't want to be a third wheel. They had been flirting for weeks. Stan would drop her off a snack that happened to fall at the same time as his did, and Ruby would pretend she didn't notice he put two dollars in the machine for it. They were cute together, the definition of highschool sweethearts.

"How about Dan?" Ruby asked, sitting down next to Beth at the lunch table. She meant Dean, not Dan, he was the junior quarterback. He had asked Beth out twice before and both times she turned him down, afterall she had a plan and it involved Rio.

"I already said no and its Dean".

"Dan..Dean, does it matter?" Ruby laughed, passing over her bag of doritos so Beth could snag one before Stan came back.

To be fair, Beth said no to Dean at first because he was almost two years older than her and she wasn't about to seem like an easy target for the upperclassmen. It would start with homecoming, than they would assume she'd put out at prom and that wasn't her, she'd like a little romance in her life.

Beth was lost in thought when Ruby snapped her fingers bringing her attention back to the table. "Is it about Riooo?" She teased, god Beth hated when she did that. Ever since they were thirteen Ruby believed they had a crush on each other, which was silly. 

_"B he won you a teddy bear" Ruby said, looking at the green bear on her bed._

_"Yea… friends do that"._

_Beth ignored the pointed stare and butterflies in her gut that told her otherwise._

"It's not...no".

The next four hours of school went painfully slow. She grabbed her math textbook for her world history class, which did her absolutely no good. Then it was time for Biology lab, her worst subject and it didn't help that Dean was in the class, he had failed it the year prior and had to repeat it. She couldn't feel bad for him, he seemed to like the extra attention.

"Ok class, pick a partner and find an open Bunsen burner" the science teacher instructed, shaking his head as he collected a note mid pass.

"Bethie".

Damn. Beth looked to her right to see Dean standing by her side, notebook in hand. She didn't need him to speak to know what he was about to ask. She figured she might as well get it over with and agreed to be his lab partner.

The experiment was making s'mores using science equipment, she assumed the teacher knew no one would do homework over the weekend. There was a football game on Friday and the dance on Saturday. 

"Do you have a date yet?" He asked, breaking off a chunk of chocolate from the bar.

Beth was in the middle of squishing her s'more together, his question taking her by surprise, he refused to give up. "No".

"Me either" he took a bite, letting crumbs fall over the counter, yuck. "Want to go together?".

Beth briefly considered her options: she could go with Dean and hope he didn't think it was them going steady, or not go to the dance at all. The second option hurt a bit, she already had a dress in her closet at home. "Sure".

-

The football team won their homecoming game against their biggest rival, bringing an extra level of celebration to the dance. They only won by seven points, although they made it seem like they decimated the opposing team.

-

Beth finished getting ready for the dance. Hair, check. Dress, check. She had found the perfect dress for the evening, it was light blue with sequins on the straps, very mermaid-esque. 

"Honey, you look beautiful. We have to get some pictures, where's my phone?" Her mom asked, not giving Beth a chance to respond. Instead she rushed around the kitchen, looking through drawers. Beth waited outside, the light was better out there. What she didn't expect to find was Rio sitting on his steps with a couple of friends (shady friends as Ruby called them). He wasn't supposed to be home, that was the main reason Beth allowed Dean to pick her up at her house, she wanted to avoid them meeting. 

"You look good Elizabeth".

Beth watched as he left his spot on the stairs, walking toward her as his eyes looked her over. She felt exposed, but was into it, and that was an odd feeling.

"Thanks, you don't think over the top? Mom wanted me to go with this hideous green one with a blue bow and -".

He smiled at her nervous rambling "not over the top at all".

Rio dragged his finger up her arm until it was under her strap, bringing it back up to her shoulder. His touch lingered as he moved in closer, on instinct Beth closed her eyes waiting for Rio to close the gap, but it never came. 

"Shoo, get away from my date. Bethie are you okay?". Dean rushed from his car taking in the scene unfolding in front of him, it was an ego trip. He put his arm between them, waving wildly, inches from their faces.

"Get ya hand out my fuckin face" Rio growled, jaw tightening like Beth hadn't seen before, not even in arguments with his father. She knew Rio would win if a fight broke out, but there would be no way to explain what happened if her mom came outside. Beth somehow got Dean to go back to his car so she could clear everything up with Rio. He took it as leaning against the passenger door, glaring at Rio as if he cared what he thought. 

"Who's the dumbass?".

"He's..well, he's..I'm going to the dance with him" She confessed, feeling guilty when his eyebrows furrowed in confusion. 

"Oh, is that so?".

He pivoted on his heel, making his way back to his house, his friends watching on in sheer interest. Beth followed after him, grabbing the sides of her dress so it wouldn't drag in the dirt.

"Rio.. don't". She was too late as he closed the door on her.

-

Dean kept mumbling the entire way to pick up Ruby and Stan. "Who did that guy think he was touching you like that?".

Beth rolled her eyes, he was Rio, her Rio and why did Dean believe he could interject himself? The ride to school was silent, except for a few random comments from Stan. 

They walked into the gymnasium to see mermaid cutouts on the doors, blue waves on the walls and all the bowls were in the shape of seashells. The school went all out this year.

Ruby said she had picked up on the tension, but wanted to wait until they got out of the car to bring it up. Beth didn't know how to explain what happened. Rio touched her in a way he had tons of times before, her body acted on its own, then Dean had to be an asshole. She couldn't even bring up their fight or him storming off.

"Wow, just wow".

"I know" Beth sighed, taking a sip of her fruit punch. "I'm pretty sure he hates me now".

"B, you know that boy can't hate you".

She hoped Ruby was right because her mind was no longer on the dance, it was racing with a hundred ways to apologize. Footloose played over the speakers and they made their way to the dance floor with Stan. The girls loved that song, Annie would always sneak into the sleepovers and they would dance to it for hours.

Dean cleared his throat behind her, offering his hand, whether it was to dance or a silent apology on his part, she took it. Afterall, she had agreed to be his date for the night and she was nothing but a girl of her word. 

It was around ten when they left, the dance had started to wind down and all the food had gotten cold. Dean dropped Ruby and Stan off first, deciding to backtrack to take Beth home. 

He put the car in park, but left it running once they pulled up to her house, "I had fun tonight, we should do it again".

Beth didn't have a chance to respond because he was leaning over the center console, his eyes closed and she had to think quickly, turning her head so he kissed her cheek. 

"Goodnight Bethie".

"Uh..yeah, thanks for the ride". Beth got out of the car, awkwardly waving as he pulled away from the curb. She made it halfway up the sidewalk when she saw Rio sitting with his back pressed against the railing.

"You ain't wanna kiss him?".

She was surprised he was there, when Rio was mad at somebody, he wanted them to know it. Beth had expected to get the silent treatment for weeks, months even.

"Maybe I'm not that kind of girl".

Rio laughed, walking down the four steps to meet her, closing the distance between them. "Nah".

"You don't know me like you think you do".

He licked his lips and Beth hated that she looked. Rio leaned in closer, lips mere inches from hers, giving her the chance to back away. "I think I do". 

Unlike she did with Dean, she knew what she wanted and rushed forward, closing the gap between them. It was hesitant and messy at first, but then they got the hang of it. Beth brought her hand up to his jaw, pulling him back for a few more seconds before they parted. 

"G'night Elizabeth".

"Goodnight". Beth brought her fingers up to her lips. She knew they'd never talk about that kiss, but maybe he did know her after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 76 days left until season 3 eek not ready. I can't wait to hear what you thought and thanks again for reading!


	5. Sixteen years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There's always a bump in the road.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and comments on the last chapter (especially the thoughts on Dean) they made my week!
> 
> Good news: no Dean
> 
> Bad news: I got into my angst-Brio feels 
> 
> **There is a small fight/initiation, not too detailed but if that's not your thing it starts with [Rio was dropped off] and ends with [The drive back]**
> 
> Enjoy!!

Beth rolled onto her stomach, watching as Rio punched the boxing bag in the corner of his room. "What happens when you graduate this crime school?".

He stopped. 

Beth sat upwards, giving his gloves a tug to get them off, only to be tackled back to the bed. " _Cap someone's ass._ Nah, dunno".

Beth rolled her eyes. She had mentioned that years ago when she tried to make sense of it all, what his dad did, what he would end up doing. Rio played with the bottom of her shirt, fingers briefly brushing underneath the fabric, against her skin.

She shrieked as he pulled her into his chest, the sweat soaked shirt against her pink blouse. "You're so sweaty".

Rio wasn't lying, that wasn't something his dad discussed with him. He had an idea of what went down, but he didn't want to worry Beth with that information. He knew her, she would try to talk to anyone and everyone to stop it, that wasn't how it worked. 

Beth turned her head just enough to press her lips to his, smiling into it when his hand slid down her back. Rio let out a slight chuckle when she gasped at his hand grabbing her ass, her form of retaliation was always to bite his bottom lip.

"Get your ass down here Rio, you're with Tony today".

She pulled away, running her tongue across her lips. They both knew if he wasn't down in a minute, someone would come looking for him. Rio moved off the bed, finding a clean navy shirt, making sure to face Beth as he buttoned it.

She grinned. They might not have known what they were to each other, but she could get used to whatever it was. Rio gave her a quick peck on the temple and said he'd call her when he was back at the warehouse, she was going to hold him to it.

-

Rio was dropped off at an abandoned building not to far from the warehouse and was told to wait for Tony, he knew something was wrong. He waited and waited, no one showed. He was about to walk back and see if Beth wanted to catch a late movie when he was circled by eight men. They worked for his father, his hired arms for protection, that's when Rio knew what was going down. 

He had gotten the green light from his dad to be initiated, even though he was the heir and primed to take over, he had to go through the same welcoming as everyone else. That is what he didn't have the heart to tell her. Some people didn't make it out alive and if they did, they weren't always the same.

Rio waited, he had heard of cousins and other boys around his age who went through it, he knew it started with a blow when it was least expected. 

It was a forearm to his back that knocked him to the ground, then came a kick to his stomach, rolling him onto his back. The purpose of it was to fight back, to show you belonged, so when the second man yanked him up by his shirt, he swung. He clipped the man's jaw, which earned him two shots to the gut, folding him over. It was like a pack of hyenas all wanting a taste of the prey, hits were coming so fast and at all angles, it was hard to keep up. Rio shielded his face, but when a gap opened up between him and another man, he threw three shots to the guy's side. 

One final blow from the side knocked Rio back down, his vision became a little blurry, an unfamiliar pulsing was felt on his eye. Tony grabbed his arm, forcing him to sit up on the pavement. "You one of us, tough little shit". He let him fall back on the ground, "dump his ass, I'll tell the boss".

-

The drive back to Beth's house had her mind racing at a hundred miles an hour. Rio being pulled away from her wasn't a rarity when she was around, however the older he got, the more scared she became. She had watched so many television shows on the subject, but never once had she seen Leon sitting at the dining room table saying, "say hello to my little friend". 

-

She picked the last bit of fruit from the garden. The lettuce hadn't survived the rabbits and there was only a couple strawberries left on the vine. Beth was about to pick herself off the ground, when a car came to a screeching halt in front of her house. Fight or fight was real, they mentioned it in several of her classes, but neither were coming to her. She was frozen still on the grass below, only able to watch as a body was tossed out the back.

She would recognize that navy shirt anywhere, it had been on her mind since she left his bedroom, Rio. Once the car was out of sight, she rushed to his side, not caring about the strawberries previously in her hand. The only thing that mattered in that moment was Rio.

She gently rolled him onto his back, her breath catching when she saw his face. There were cuts to his cheek, blood was caked at the corner of his lips and his eye was puffy, almost swollen shut. Beth wiped the tears that had started to fall, she needed to get him inside the house, she knew he wouldn't want the neighbors to call the cops. 

Beth sat him up and slowly got him to his feet, wrapping his arm around her shoulders as she held onto his waist, his shirt was torn and hanging off his body. He seemed aware of his surroundings, enough so to help her get him into the room.

"I'll be back, oh god". She ran into the bathroom, grabbing a bucket of water, a washcloth and the first aid kit. Leon had been so concerned about preparing Rio, what about her? He had to have known she would never leave his side, would it have hurt him to give her a class on this?

He hadn't moved much from when she left him. She slid his arm over, making enough room so she could sit down. Dipping the washcloth, she dabbed at his cheek, then his lips, folding it over once more to wipe across his brow. 

"How do I tell if you have a concussion? Do you need to go to the hospital?".

"Ain't goin to no hospital" he mumbled. Beth had never been so happy to hear his voice, and it was one of her favorite sounds.

"What.. what happened?".

He winced, trying to move his arm. "Initiation, its nothin ma".

It wasn't nothing, it was obviously something. If she knew this was what they wanted, she would've made him stay in the room, it would have bought him a day at least. Beth raised a piece of the torn fabric, a dark bruise was already starting to form on his side, there wasn't an inch of him that wasn't affected. She brushed her fingers over his knuckles, the redness showing he fought back. Beth laid her hand on his. "Do you need advil or.. I think there's chicken noodles?".

She had no idea what the protocol was for this. Leaving the room for another brief second to get ice packs, she figured one was at least needed for his eye. Beth stopped in the doorway, taking one last look before she walked back to the bed, she wondered if he had been scared.

"Should see the other guy".

Beth knew he was trying to lighten the mood, but her heart was shattered looking at him. "You look-". She sniffled, looking up to the ceiling hoping it would prevent the tears from falling, only it didn't. "you.. I can't".

"Elizabeth, come'er". Rio raised his hand, wanting her to lay beside him. She was a mess, but was not in the mood to argue with him in that state, their fights were only fun when they both had quips. Beth filled the spot beside him, letting her tears soak the corner of his shirt. 

His hand found hers, giving it a light squeeze, which was probably all he could muster at that moment. "Sorry".

Rio had nothing to he sorry for, he didn't want this, he was just playing with the cards he was dealt.

"I'll sleep in my chair tonight, you should get some rest".

"Stay, please". Beth nodded, turning back to her side in the small space available. She rested her hand on his chest, feeling its rise and fall with each breath he took.

"I'll never leave you".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the chapter!! I promise the next chapter will be way fluffier!
> 
> The amount of times I watched Manny's Power scene & Graceland S3 scene for this hurt... so there's that.
> 
> Edit: saw Krishawndalyn Clark's comment come thru and just in case anyone else has the same question, its more of a friends with benefits situation 😂


	6. Eighteen years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Two years later and maybe it's time to label their relationship

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for the kudos and to Gelirosaly, Kshanae, Krishawndalyn Clark, floweringrebel, MissTricey &  
> s_t_c_s ❤ for leaving comments, I loved reading them! 
> 
> After dealing with a little writers block and several rough drafts, here's a filler chapter before we dive into a Christmas memory :) I hope you enjoy!

"What else you want for graduation?" Rio asked, holding the warehouse door open for her. Beth had vowed to never step foot in that building after his initiation, but he said she had to make an exception for the party.

Eva was a sixty something year old woman who cooked for them, she had made her a cake and she couldn't not show. When they were younger, she would always make them snacks and let them hide behind the counter to avoid his dad, she was one of the good ones.

Rio took her hand, leading her to the kitchen. "I don't need anything". It was true, Beth had her family and friends, that was all she really needed. She slowly rounded the corner to see people waiting with plates of food, a table full of presents and even Camilla had shown up.

"Congrats honey". She pulled Beth into a hug, shaking their upper bodies to show how much she had missed seeing her around. Leon was gone for the week, and they decided the warehouse would be a perfect place to throw her a graduation party. "Come, come, this is from me".

Beth let out a small laugh, taking the envelope in her hands. It was a three night stay at a bed and breakfast near Lake Michigan. "It's nonrefundable, Rio knows how to surf, it could be fun for you two".

"Thank you, I love it".

Another gift was placed in front of her, opening to reveal a camera. Eva said she went along with Camilla's idea, they had to take pictures on the trip. Beth gave her a hug in return.

As weird as it seemed, the gang was her second home. The same people who toted guns, were the same ones congratulating her on finishing school. It wasn't something that she could explain, but she could see herself being apart of it.

"This ones from Rio".

He took it from the man's hand before Beth could, telling her he'd rather she open it away from everyone's prying eyes. They excused themselves, ignoring the whistles from some of the older men, and made their way to his childhood bedroom. 

The bunk bed and toy chest were still there. Beth ran her hand over the top, regretting it when dust collected on her finger tips. When he got older, he moved closer to the main hall, the old room was then used as a nursery for some of the female members.

He tucked his hands into his pants pockets, watching as she examined the box. It was a necklace of a flower, with a piece of bullet in the center.

"Street market got this artist, took it out my gun. Like it?".

He pulled his bottom lip into his mouth, nervous all of a sudden. Beth nodded, passing it over to Rio. She needed him to clasp it while she held up her hair. The metal was cold on her skin, but it was rustic and beautiful. "It's amazing".

He brought his hand up to move it to the center of her chest. "Rio, what are we?".

He arched an eyebrow. "Whatchu mean?".

She didn't know how to word it, they've kissed, had sex and held hands, but was it still considered friendship to him.

"What is this?". She let her fingers linger on the necklace, letting out a shaky breath as he stepped forward. He was the one who wanted them to step away to open the gift, that had to mean something, right?.

"A gift ma". 

That's not what she meant, but she let it be.

-

It was finally graduation day, something she had looked forward to since she was five.

"Erin Nicole Marie".

Beth was up next, she had one foot resting on the stage, the other on the top stair. "Elizabeth Irene Marks".

She walked onto the stage, shaking hands with the various teachers, trying her best not to fall flat on her face. With her diploma in hand, she stood front and center while the cheers erupted. Off to the right side of the stage, her family sat with Rio's and a few gang members that tagged along. She tried not to let out a laugh at the large gap between a woman and Demon, the head tattoo was intimidating to the average person. 

Beth made her way off the stage and back to her seat. Ruby and Stan had gone on before her and she's pretty sure she annoyed the girl next to her with her hollering. 

-

"My baby is all grown up" Cindy cried, wiping her eyes as Beth walked closer. Annie was in charge of taking pictures, at sixteen she only had a couple years left until it was her walking across that stage. Well, so their mom hoped. Over the past year she had gotten caught in the janitor's closet at least twice, and their dad could only blame Greg for so long before accepting Annie was part of the problem. 

"Give ya girlfriend the flower" Demon tried joking, only to get a stiff elbow to the side. Despite the teasing, Rio picked up a single red rose from the ground. While Demon worked alongside him and they were buds, he wouldn't hesitate to pull rank.

"They had em outside".

Ben shook his head, looking anywhere but the scene in front of him. Her dad liked Rio, but the thought of his baby girl being caught in crossfire didn't sit well with him. Plus they had an argument about the meaning of the bullet, but that was a whole other story.

Beth held the flower up to her nose, giving a sniff. "You shouldn't have".

"Told him that, but Elizabeth loves them" Demon teased again, ignoring the glare being shot his way. Camilla laughed, her son had a tough exterior, but was soft like a marshmallow when it came to Beth.

-

Camilla asked her what she planned to do next and she really hadn't given it much thought. She briefly considered joking about joining crime, but that seemed like a bit too much. Beth would be lying though if she said it hadn't crossed her mind.

-

Three taps against Beth's window and she knew it was Rio. Whenever he got injured, or needed away from his mom, that was the secret knock. She pulled open the curtain, moving her computer off the top of the desk so she could lift up the screen.

"What are you doing?". She let out a laugh, watching him pull himself head first over the window sill. 

Once inside he brushed off a leaf from his shirt, picking it back off the carpet. "Lemme take you out".

"Out?".

Rio stepped as close as their bodies would allow, taking the necklace in his hand. He must have found an answer to the question she asked days ago. He hummed, "or can make spaghetti at my place".

She had only heard about his new eastside loft. "I like spaghetti". She couldn't bite back the smile once he surged forward, pressing his lips to hers. A date with Rio, that's exactly what she wanted for graduation. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the chapter! I hope you enjoyed! <3
> 
> https://etsy.me/2rAn1kP - the idea behind the necklace.


	7. Nineteen years old (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth wanted to give crime a try on her day off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter got so long, so I split it into two. Part 2 focuses on Christmas so it'll be up later this week if I get it edited.
> 
> Thank you for the kudos and comments on the last chapter (& Find your Beach), I loved reading your thoughts! & to everyone who predicted Beth would be intrigued by crime, you were right!
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

A loud ringing cut through Beth's sleep, and Rio's mumbling of _"damn alarm"_ didn't help. They didn't move in with each other, she just preferred spending her nights there instead of at her parents' house. See, she had been saving money for her own place, but working for minimum wage at the local DQ only got her so far.

She groaned, wrapping her arms tighter around his waist. "Don't go, stay here with me".

It was her day off, and spending all day with Rio in bed sounded like a great idea. "Ya know I can't ma, dad's got new people".

Beth stuck out her bottom lip, pouting usually got her way with him, but not today. Over the past year he had been given more authority within the gang. He would supervise the cocaine shipments, train the newbies on how to shoot, basically anything his dad deemed unworthy of his time. On the other hand, their relationship had never been stronger. 

"Let me come with you".

Rio dropped back onto his pillow, running his hand over his face. "Ain't safe, not yet".

"But you'll be there. Isn't there a bring your girlfriend to work day?" She pressed, using her finger to trace circles on his chest.

He breathed out a laugh. They had talked in great length about Beth eventually joining him, however that was when Rio officially took over. He said he had to not only change the product, but also get rid of the initiation practices. He wasn't going to let anyone hurt Beth, ever.

"Lock you in my office or somethin?".

Beth knew he was joking, but why not play along? "I mean..we haven't tried handcuffs, could be fun".

Rio shook his head, rolling out of the bed. He turned back to face her, biting his lip when she moved just enough to expose her breasts. "Aight, but gonna have rules".

She jumped up to her knees, flinging her arms around his neck to kiss him. Ruby would say something was wrong with her, no one should be excited to step foot into gang territory. 

There was a list of clothes she shouldn't wear for her protection, but Rio refused to dictate what she put on. Beth understood, there were some shady people within the organization. No low cut shirts, avoid short dresses and keep her hair down, there was a guy named creepy carl who had a thing for shoulders.

Beth settled on a pair of black leggings and an oversized grey sweater she wore when she lounged around his place. It wasn't the cutest thing she owned, but it kept her alive and that's what mattered to the both of them. Rio asked her three more times on the way if she was serious about going, he would turn back around if she wanted. Beth wasn't going to change her mind, deep down she always knew this was where she belonged.

-

"Wait here" Rio let go of her hand, peeking through the side door of the warehouse. Beth glanced around making sure no one was coming from behind. "Aight, come on". He held his hand back out for her to take.

Eva gave a small wave once they were inside, she was playing solitaire by herself in the main hall. She was one of five people who went to her graduation party, everyone else had gone with Leon. "Fresh meat Tony" a man yelled out, nudging a taller man in the side.

Beth knew Tony, well not personally, but she knew his work from Rio's initiation. All the bruises, how his eye had been swollen, he even missed two weeks of school. She tightened her grip on his hand, she wanted to give Tony a piece of her mind.

Rio brought their joint hands behind her back as the men got closer. "Rio, my man, planning on keeping this hot piece of ass to yourself?".

"Ain't you got shit to do?". Rio promised he wouldn't let anyone hurt her, even going as far as saying he'd pull the trigger if need be.

Tony sneered a laugh, angling his body to get a better look at Beth's face, seeing her look of disgust. "You need initiated? I'll make it better for you than he can".

"Already did two weeks ago and I doubt it".

On the drive over Rio quizzed her on initiations, giving her enough information to formulate a couple lies.

_"I went through it a week ago"._

_Rio shook his head, not taking his eyes off the road. "Two weeks, bruises ain't goin away that quick mama"._

_Beth repeated two weeks over and over until it was committed to memory. She knew Rio was scared about her tagging along, but she'd rather get a taste of it before jumping in the deep end._

He warned her there was two types of initiations. The favorite was jump-ins, which was what he had gone through. The women were given an alternative if they didn't want to fight, which was being sexed-in. That sounded worse in her opinion, it was having sex with member after member, being told it would result in equal status within the gang. That wasn't the case, they would be at the lowest level, used for their bodies and couldn't really leave.

Beth realized her comment about doubting anyone, especially Tony, would do it better than Rio left the question of which option she chose up in the air. She didn't care, let them think what they wanted. 

"Mouthy, that turns me on". He reached forward, brushing her hair off her shoulder.

Rio let go of her hand, pushing Tony back against the wall. "Touch her again, I'll kill you". Beth's eyes widened as other members looked on. Tony might have welcomed Rio into the gang, but for all intent and purposes Rio was his boss. It was a fall in line or expect consequences business, and it was a side of him Beth hadn't seen before.

Eva pulled Beth to her table as the staredown continued, telling her it would be fine and that no one would cross Rio. What did that mean? She felt clueless about the inner workings. 

-

Everything calmed down, Tony had backed away with his hands raised, and they both knew it was only a matter of time before he snitched to Leon. 

Rio led her to a room at the far end of the hall, telling her she could help out production, it was the safest bet for her. He had to deal with the initiates, and knowing how bad the last ones were, it was going to be a long day.

Beth played with his fingers as he told her to stick by Maria, nodding along to let him know she understood. "What if he tells your dad?".

"I'll handle it". He noticed her uncertainty, how could he not when it was written all over her face. "Get ya at lunch, 'kay?".

Beth nodded, pulling him down for a kiss. Rio's hand on instinct moved to her ass, resting on her cheek. They were interrupted by someone clearing their throat, shit. They jumped apart only to hear the woman laugh, from the introductions that followed Beth learned her name was Maria, she was the one who was going to train her.

"So this is the girlfriend you're always goin on about". She pulled Beth into a hug like they were friends or family. She didn't even have time to grasp that Rio talked about her to them.

"Yea, she learnin to be the boss bitch". Rio gave Beth one last peck before stepping away, mumbling a reminder to find him at lunch.

-

They walked a little further until they came across a green door. "How long since, you know" Maria asked, turning the doorknob. 

"Uh.. two weeks".

"Good". She let Beth walk in first, taking in the sights. It wasn't anything like Rio's old bedroom or the main hall, this was where all the crime magic happened. It was filled with tables and scales, blocks of product sat in front of an armed guard, but what got Beth's attention was that everyone was in their underwear. Looking to her right, she noticed Maria had started undoing her dress.

"You shy?" She laughed again, placing her now folded dress on the table behind her. "There's a changing station over there".

Beth quickly scurried over to the screen. Staying with Rio had its benefits, lots of benefits, but having a variety of underwear wasn't one of them. She had gone out and bought lace sets, some panties that barely could be classified as such, but they were for Rio's eyes only. She liked dressing up, well down for him. Beth raised her shirt up, thankful she wore her light blue set and not the sheer black one intended for their next date night. 

She stepped out, catching a few stares. The majority of the men and women were wearing plain white, she stood out like a sore thumb. Maria gave a knowing look, saying she had the same problem when she joined with her boyfriend at sixteen. That intrigued Beth, she didn't know there were other couples in the gang. There weren't, her boyfriend Ricardo was killed in a drive by three years ago. Leon gave her the option to leave, but it was all she knew how to do, so she stayed to train the incoming women.

Beth was handed a face mask, the ones worn in hospitals, and asked why they needed them. Maria said it started three years ago. A man had a cold, which was common with Detroit's fluctuating temperatures, but one sneeze caused him to knock three opened cocaine packages on the floor.

"W-what happened to him?".

Maria paused, debating on if she wanted to tell the dark truth. "They drug him out to the shooting range, used him for target practice". Beth gasped, immediately putting the mask on.

Beth was walked through the steps, scoop up some product, lay it on the scale, the bag it. One gram, that's what they needed to measure to.

She watched a couple more packages be made. There was an LV logo placed on each one for Leon Vasquez, it wasn't clever, but what did Beth know about marketing cocaine. They had to be in their underwear to ensure no one tried to pocket the goods. The lunch bell rang, reminding her of highschool, and Maria said she could give one a go when they got back.

Everyone tossed their clothes on, joining the masses. Leon believed the gang was family, they would eat together, then get back to work. It was ironic considering he treated his own son as an employee his whole life. Beth on the other hand needed to find Rio.

-

Eva gestured to the walk in freezer when she was next in line. Beth gave a small thanks, taking the long way to the kitchen, thankful they were only allowed to play hide and seek in that part of the warehouse.

"Rio! They made strip to my panties".

He hummed. "Whatchu got on?". Beth noticed the small smile on his face, wondering what was going through his head, still she answered. "Blue".

"With the bow?". She nodded, he had been with her when she bought them. Silence hovered over them and she didn't know how to break it, until Rio did. He grabbed her hand, lightly jogging down the hall, saying they didn't have much time.

-

Rio brought her into an office, from the pictures on the stand she recognized it as his. "Aw, you have a picture of us from your graduation".

He graduated a couple weeks after her, the downside to being at different schools. Beth had sat between Leon and Demon, but they almost filled a section with the amount of members that tagged along.

"Yea, 'bout them panties".

Beth laughed, continuing to look around the office. There was another one from his little league celebration, she remembered pushing his head into the cake. She walked back towards him.

Rio turned so she was pressed against the wall, her cold hands sliding up the back of his shirt, making him shiver for a brief second. He returned the favor, slipping his hand down the front of her pants, trying to work his way around the weird angle.

Her breath caught, nails digging into his shoulder when he circled her clit. All her whimpers were directed to his ear since his mouth was on her neck. The quickie was worth skipping lunch. Rio slipped in a finger, releasing a moan as she grinded against his hand. 

"Oh...god". Rio chuckled against her neck, pumping faster. Beth was panting, she was close, so close, then they heard someone yelling about needing to find the new girl. Beth didn't need found, this was exactly where she needed to be, alongside Rio.

Two knocks to Rio's door killed the mood. She whined when he removed his fingers, wiping them on the underside of his shirt. He opened the door to see Maria, she quickly apologized but said Beth needed to get back to work, that Rio as the boss had to understand. 

She felt uncomfortable, all worked up and unable to do anything about it for a couple more hours. Rio grabbed her hand when she was halfway to the hall. "Gonna finish at home though, yeah?".

"Yeah, boss". Beth winked, rushing to catch up to Maria, well as fast as her shaky legs would allow her too.

-

Maria apologized ten more times on the way back to the office, saying she knows how awkward it is to be interrupted. Beth tried to tell her they weren't doing what she thought they were, but when she said she heard sounds, Beth wanted to curl up into a ball and hide. Luckily Maria didn't bring it up again, but that was the least of her problems.

The woman on labeling, Raquel, had been staring at Beth since she first stepped foot in the room. At first she took it as sizing up the newbie, which was expected, but it had to be something else for it to be happening six hours later. "Why does she keep glaring at me?".

Maria looked over, catching just as Raquel turned away. "It's silly, she's been trying for years to fuck Rio, guess she's intimidated by ya". She elbowed Beth playfully in the side. 

"Do people know? I mean.. other than you?".

Beth watched as the numbers on the scale bounced, waiting for Maria's reply. The long pause put knots in her stomach, they had practiced for over half an hour before getting out of the car, Rio said he had thought of everything. 

"Rio's got a kind heart, I mean you know. But, he hates working with the new guys, that's why we get stuck with em". She laughed, motioning for Beth to dump out a little more product onto the scale. Beth did, needing to hear more about this other side of Rio. 

"So for him to threaten Tony, and everyone knows Tony's kill record is.. wow, it's a big deal around here. Thinkin with his heart not his head, dumb kid".

So everyone probably knew, or at least thought they knew. That made Beth ten times as nervous, maybe it had been a bad idea from the get go. Ruby's words after graduation came flooding back to her. _"B, it's one thing to join a gang accidently, but to walk into the lion's den with a steak is suicide"._

Maybe she should have heeded the warning.

The armed guard tapped on the table, pulling Beth from her daze. "Mr Vasquez wants to see you".

Beth swallowed hard. "Rio?".

"Leon. Get dressed, let's go". Her heart dropped, the gig was up, she just hoped she didn't end up like the man from the story. Maria gave her a small pat on the back when she walked past her, silently wishing her good luck. 

-

She was nervous, so nervous. In the fourteen years she had known Rio, she had never been in his father's office, it was a part of the restricted section. Beth shuffled her feet, trying to delay the inevitable, but before she knew it she was walking over the threshold.

"Sit" Leon said, pointing to the empty chair. Rio was already occupying the other, and Beth wasn't sure if she was relieved, or upset at that. 

Rio reached over, holding her hand, reassurance that he was sticking to his promise that no one would hurt her. Leon clocked it, letting out a deep sigh, reclining further in his chair. "You stay on one condition".

"One..wait, what?".

Leon said he had heard good things about Beth, granted it had only been six hours and things change. Rio was equally as shocked, they both had been expecting to be reprimanded. "I need an heir".

Now Beth was really confused. "You have Rio".

He glanced between Rio and Beth, tossing his hands to the side as if to say _you get it now?_ And she did, he wanted a grandkid.

"You fucking kiddin me, blackmail?" Rio scoffed, attempting to leave with Beth.

"You've always wanted to be a father Rio, I'm giving you my blessing to do so".

He finished by saying he was in no hurry, but considering Beth was well, Beth, he would rather have more time to mold the youngster. Leon dismissed them, refusing to hear anything else. 

-

Rio took Beth back home, ignoring the glances from everyone as they left hand in hand. 

-

They were sitting outside her parents' house despite her saying she'd rather just go back to his. Beth knew he was still processing everything his father said. A grandson, hypothetically what would happen if it was a granddaughter. She shook her head.

"You want to come in? Looks like their not home".

"Nah, gotta do somethin".

Beth nodded, watching as Rio kept looking everywhere but at her. They had known each other for fourteen years, and like most kids they had pretend weddings, pretend families with dolls, having kids with Rio wasn't completely absurd.

Ruby and Stan had started to try, it would be kind of cute having their kids grow up together. She knew they weren't ready for the conversation, they had just been blindsided by it. Beth leaned over the center console, giving a quick kiss to his cheek. "Thanks for today Rio".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! I can't wait to hear your thoughts. I'm also on tumblr if anyones interested xstrawmari :) No Brio baby yet, they got an empire to build. 
> 
> See ya in a few days for the Christmas chapter!


	8. Nineteen years old (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout of last chapter and Beth is ready to tell her parents about Rio.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Merry Brio-xmas haha. This is part 2.. it's long, so long.
> 
> Thanks for the kudos and comments on the last chapter, they gave strength to edit this one <3.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

After dropping Beth off at her parents' house, Rio sped back to the warehouse. All his life it was train for this, act like that, taught that love was a weakness. Maybe it was, well it could be. If any of the rivals wanted to hurt him, Beth would be an easy way to do so. 

One bullet was all it would take. 

He stormed into his father's office, seething as he stood across from him. It was the adrenaline in his veins that made him think it was a great idea.

"Want my own shit, my own people and you ain't controllin Elizabeth".

Leon wasn't upset, more amused if anything, reclining in his office chair. He had pushed Rio to a breaking point, they got in arguments, but this was new. If they had kids, it'd be because they wanted them, not for the sake of the gang. Rio was raised that way, Beth had seen it, they wouldn't wish that on anyone.

He saw a real future with Beth, one where they successfully balanced a life of crime and a family. Leon wasn't going to ruin that.

"Your own shit, huh?". Leon stood up, crossing his arms out in front of his chest. "Aight, you know the way out".

Exit beatings. If a member wanted to leave without the leaders approval, they had to fight their way out. Rio had meant an extension of what his father had built, he wasn't crazy trying to start from scratch, but that wasn't how his dad took it.

"And Elizabeth?".

A sadistic grin plastered on Leon's face. "What did you call her _the boss bitch?_ I think Raquel would disagree, don't you?".

Rio stepped toward the desk, jaw tightening. Leon told him to relax, that he wasn't a heartless monster, besides he still hoped they would come to their senses and accept his arrangement.

"You can fight Tony, final offer".

Tony had a kill record, an excellent marksman and even better fighter. He was the bodyguard, initiator, and in most cases the last face people saw before they left. Well, if they made it out alive. Rio was shielded from the exit beatings, but he knew they existed. He would always hear whispers during lunch, or people talking about it during stakeouts. If he had to fight Tony to get Beth and himself out, he would.

-

Beth had sent eight text messages to Rio since he left. They ranged from "what are you going to do?" To "maybe it wouldn't be the worst way to live.'' The silence was driving her insane. She was tempted to get into her car and drive back to the warehouse. 

A ding came from her phone and she quickly opened the app, only to be disappointed it was from Maria and not Rio.

"Rio's fighting Tony tomorrow, exit beating" followed by "this is bad".

It was all her worst nightmares rolled up in one. He suffered a beating to get into the mess, and she messed it up in one day. Scrolling through her contacts, she came across the one listed R with a heart emoji, sending another text "call me".

And he did.

"What you want Elizabeth".

"So you did get my messages, I must've not gotten yours". She joked, trying to lighten the mood, but he had to have known she was worried. "Maria told me".

He sighed, and Beth knew he was holding the bridge of his nose, it was something he did when he was irritated. "Knew she would, it ain't nothin".

"That's what you said about the initiation, Rio talk to me".

_"Initiation, it's nothin ma"._

Rio said truthfully he didn't know what he was walking into, but he had to if they wanted out from under his dad's thumb. How a misunderstanding about wanting his own subdivision of the gang, turned into an in or out scenario. He chose out, that's where Beth would be safest. 

It wasn't that he didn't love that she enjoyed crime, it was quite the opposite really. He had her interests in mind, like should she have to be around cocaine when he didn't even want to? 

Beth let the silence speak for itself, she didn't know what to say to that. "I want to be with you, if it's there, if we start our own, if you find a sucky office job…I'm here, okay?".

He hummed a reply, and against his protests she said she would be there tomorrow with a first aid kit.

-

Beth stepped into the warehouse, the large metal door slamming shut behind her. Maria quickly pulled her to the side. "Do you have a death wish?".

"I'm not letting Rio go through this alone, it's my fault" 

"His fault. He knew how this would end, yet he still did it". Maria wrapped her arm around Beth's shoulders, guiding her to where members were gathering. Exit beatings were like the gangs UFC fights, there were rounds, only it ended when the opponent surrendered or couldn't continue.

Demon was in Rio's corner, he was given the towel to throw in if things got too bad. "What happens if he loses?".

"Leon's deal stands, that means you're here for good".

Beth's palms started to sweat, the nerves were kicking in. She asked about Tony's record, no matter how many times she asked Rio, he wouldn't tell her. "In these?". Beth nodded. Maria started to count on her hand, as if she was recalling all the members who attempted to leave. "Ten...no, eleven. Look, if anyone is going to beat him, it's Rio".

That wasn't exactly reassuring, but she didn't have time to dwell on it as the bell rang.

Rio ducked when Tony swung wildly, getting down low enough to connect a punch with his side. The larger of the two threw a quick combo, causing Rio to lose his footing and fall to the floor below. 

Tony hovered over Rio, hit after hit connecting with his face and forearms. Rio tried to protect himself, but seeing as Tony was twice his size, it was hard to get off his back.

Beth did something stupid, she knew it was as soon as she pushed her way through the crowd. 

"Get off of him".

There were whispers around her, and she could see Maria watching between her fingers. Tony looked to Leon who shrugged, next thing she knew she was being backed against the wall. "Knew if I waited I'd get you".

Beth slapped him, echoing across the room. "Bitch". It bought Rio enough time to get to his feet, turning Tony around for a right hook, clipping his jaw. Deja vu.

Leon called for the end once Rio had the upper hand. The final punches showed all the anger he had held inside over the years. Beth was sitting on the ground with her knees pressed into her chest. Tony's face was a bloody mess, similar to what Rio looked like three years ago. He wasn't unscathed either, there were cuts to his lip and eyebrow.

"Miss Marks, you have more fight in you than I thought" Leon praised, pushing a couple people out of his way as he headed in their direction. 

Rio helped her up, moving her behind him. 

"Don't be silly Rio, I'm not going to hurt her, quite the opposite really". Leon tilted Rio's face, surveying the damage. "You have ideas on branching out, clean your ass up and we'll talk".

-

Beth sat on top of the desk in front of his chair, dabbing his face with soapy water. Rio hissed when she reached the cut on his lip. This sight was all too familiar to her, but the positive was that this time he could walk away unassisted.

She brushed her thumb over his bottom lip. "You should stop getting hit". He tried to crack a smile, but winced when it pulled on the fresh cut. "I'm serious".

"Aight. Stop pickin fights with guys three times your size mama". Beth couldn't help the laugh that bubbled up, that was so dumb on her part, but it worked out fine in the end. 

Leon pushed open the door, not bothering to knock. Beth moved off the desk, dragging a chair to sit next to Rio.

"Tony's fine" He started.

"Didn't ask, what you want?". Beth glanced between them both, wanting to excuse herself from the room. 

Leon's laugh returned, just as dark as it was when he terrorised six year old Beth.

_"This is a restricted area, didn't your mom teach you that word?". Leon grabbed the doll from Beth's hand. She had been waiting for Rio at the far end of the main hall, it had a cut out in the wall that was perfect for a makeshift doll house. She always packed toys when she came, otherwise the hours he left her to train went by at a snail's pace._

_She made one mistake, just one time and pop! Leon ripped the head off her Barbie doll. Beth had cried for hours, running back to Rio's room and burying her face into the pillow. Rio fixed it, well tried his best too. The doll no longer had a neck but at least it was attached to the body._

"Know the problem with your mom?" The question was rhetorical of course, not that Beth or Rio would've known the answer. 

"She refused to accept who I was, wouldn't conform to this lifestyle.. I thought you had a Camilla. '' He looked at Beth. "You got a fighter".

He pointed at Beth and it made her uneasy. "You didn't cower in Tony's presence. Either got a death wish, or you could be useful to me".

They sat in silence as Leon continued his monologue, listing off other things they had done in the past twenty four hours to impress him. "Rio, my boy, you want to expand the Vasquez name...do it. I'll give you four men to start, you fail.. we'll be talkin again".

He even told them to not come in until after Christmas, that starting a gang, and eventually a family requires time and energy. While he still hoped for a grandkid, he said Beth would be more useful to them in her current state. They were left dumbfounded, it was a complete one eighty from his position the day before. 

-

Fast forward three months and it was Christmas Eve. Beth had finally saved enough to get a tiny apartment; she was now working at a craft store down the street from her place, while helping Rio get his crime organization off the ground. 

He got to pick four employees, it didn't take long to find people who wanted an easy out. Demon and Maria were the first to volunteer, Raquel had tried to tag along, but Rio once again turned her down. She had ulterior motives and while Beth wasn't nervous, it still made her happy to see her disappointed face when she wasn't called out. The final two were Bullet and Mr Cisco, why he called himself that Beth had no idea, but they were loyal to Rio and that's what mattered. 

With all the extra time on their hands, Beth figured it was time to rip off the bandaid and tell her parents she was dating Rio. Ruby and Annie didn't understand how it wasn't brought up, after all it had been a year.

It was simple, her parents didn't agree with his occupation, and she refused to listen to another rant about dating Dean and not flirting with the neighbor boy.

_It was no secret by seventeen there was something between Beth and Rio, both their mom's knew it, her dad on the other hand refused to accept it._

_He had his arm wrapped around her shoulders, she was leaning into his chest as they watched Chucky. It wasn't even Halloween, but who wouldn't watch a random movie with their best friend? Rio was playing with a piece of hair that fell out of her ponytail, taking occasional glances in her direction while she was fixated on the television._

_"What's going on there?" Ben asked, walking into the kitchen._

_Cindy smiled. "I think they like each other, but don't know it yet"._

_"I'm calling Frank Boland, see if his kid is single". He pointed toward the couch. "That's not happening"._

Beth wiggled out of his hold and went to her closet, looking for her Rio box. Like a lot of people she had collected mementos over the years, most were from when they were younger. She smiled when she found what she was looking for. Rio had been wracking his brain for months trying to find out what their specialty would be, and he wasn't about to ask his dad for advice. It came to Beth in the middle of the night. It was a fake one hundred dollar bill, drawn with crayon on green construction paper. 

"Do you remember when my parents got into a huge fight? You said you'd make money to buy us a house".

He nodded, taking the fake bill from her hand. "Elizabeth, shits in crayon.. we were seven".

"Two words, printing press. Maria said there's a contact in Canada who can mass produce..".

"Funny money". 

-

Beth woke early, getting a headstart on the cupcakes. Since she moved, her family wanted to hold their Christmas gathering at her place. Annie was coming alone; Greg was in Hawaii with his family. She invited Rio, it was time to tell her family, that didn't stop her from stress baking.

"Do you think I need more cupcakes? I feel like I need more". She was already on tray two for five people. 

"Elizabeth, it'll be fine".

He was too calm. There was a big chance the night would in a fight, even though Annie said she would jump in if needed. Her sister was cool with Rio, she found him scary, but she also wanted to join his gang at twelve so what did Beth know. "I just don't like when people judge you".

They got stares at the grocery store, the movie theater, hell she couldn't even try on clothes and show him without people wanting to alert security. So he now had an eagle tattoo spread across his neck, Beth liked it, she didn't care what anyone else thought. Ruby pointed when he first showed up with it, and Stan had shook his head, they couldn't hide what Rio did from him. 

Rio stepped behind the counter, wrapping his arms around her. "Ain't got nothin to worry bout". 

"I don't care what they say, I like this" Beth decided, turning around in his arms. He gave a small smile, leaning down to meet her lips, the edge of the counter digging into her back. 

"How long till your family's here?".

Beth looked down at her watch, it was nine, they always started around eleven. They would play charades, have dinner and then open presents, that was the Marks' tradition. "Two hours, give or take".

He took her hand, leading her to the bedroom.

-

Her hand moved to squeeze her pillow as Rio circled her clit.

She whined when he pulled away, bringing her own hand down to continue. He watched at the foot of the bed, seeing her body twitch with each rub, her eyes closing.

"Rio...fuck". She squeezed her thighs together, trapping her hand inside. Rio's tongue darted out, licking his lips. He settled back between her legs, and Beth bit her lip as he slipped inside. Her nails dragging down his back with each thrust, both panting as the pressure built.

"Oh..god". Beth grabbed at the bed, gathering the sheet. Rio took his hand off her hip, placing it on top of hers, interlocking their fingers.

"Oh shit" Annie laughed, closing the door behind her. "Mom, I think Beth's busy".

Beth scurried off the bed, pushing Rio's shoulder to get him off her. "No, no, no".

"Ain't that bad ma".

Not bad? Annie saw him between her legs, that was the very definition of bad. She quickly grabbed a shirt covered in red paint, and a pair of yoga pants from the closet. 

"You getting dressed?" He laughed, making his way off the bed to collect his own items. Beth didn't think Annie would tell on her, but the fact she knew would be enough to make the evening uncomfortable. She decided to go out first, telling Rio to wait a couple minutes before leaving her room. Much to her surprise, he listened. 

Walking into the kitchen she saw her mom unpacking groceries for Christmas dinner. Annie was on the stool, arms resting on the counter with a knowing smile.

"Y-y-you're early and you let yourself in?" Beth stuttered, grabbing a bottle of water from the refrigerator. She was flustered, her cheeks were on fire. Beth gave her parents a spare key in case she fell getting out of the shower, not to get an early start on food. If she knew her family had planned to just waltz in unannounced, she would've at least locked her bedroom door.

Cindy folded up her tote, placing a plate of rolls on the counter. "We knocked".

Beth took another sip of water when Rio came into view, he had settled on a plain black shirt and she knew he dug in the bottom of the drawer for it. They both had a small selection of clothes at the others house. It showed off his full neck tattoo and the various ones on his arms, he had to have been trying to piss her parents off at that point.

He sat down next to Annie, plucking a few grapes off the vine. "Yo".

"You didn't tell us you had a guest. I'm Beth's mom, you can call me Cindy".

Beth looked at her like she had grown two heads, why was she introducing herself and Annie like Rio had no clue who they were? Then it hit her, her parents hadn't seen him in over a year, not since her graduation. Between the tattoos and fuller beard he could've looked like a whole other person. "Mom, it's Rio".

Cindy froze. "I didn't recognize you, you're so.. you're so grown". She let out a nervous laugh, asking if he was staying over for dinner. He was. "I remember when you two were younger, every Christmas you'd run over to play with Beth".

"Still do" he quipped, causing Beth to choke on her water. Her mom gave her a worried glance, patting her on the back as Rio's smirk widened. He was trouble, and Annie was enjoying every second of it.

Cindy kept rambling on about how sorry she was that she didn't have a gift for him, even though Rio said it was fine.

"Beth already got him something". Annie winked in Beth's direction.

-

"Rio I'm assuming you remember how we play our charades". Cindy dug a pile of cards from her purse, stating the category was family. Every year it was something different, trips they had taken or movies they had watched, it added extra fun to the day. "For old times sakes, Rio and Beth you're team one. Honey, you're with Annie".

Annie went first, holding up one finger to indicate it was a single word. She pointed to herself. "Annie". She shook her head at their dad's wrong answer, motioning with her hands that he was close and to try again. "Daughters?".

"Point for team two. Beth you're up next, pick a card".

Her card read movie night, they had a lot of those as a family, almost every Friday to be exact. She pointed to a nearby movie, which he got. It was harder than she thought it would be, deciding to take Annie's method of telling him to fill in the blank.

"Theater?.. movie...night?".

"We're tied, Ben you're always terrible at these" Cindy laughed, passing her husband a card. He gestured around the room with his pointer finger, and Annie easily guessed the word was family. Beth was about to say the game was rigged, that they were getting the easier words, when Rio held up one finger. Single word.

He pointed to his chest. "Heart?..heartburn?".

"Why would mom put heartburn in a game about family?" Annie asked, being hushed by Cindy to not interrupt the game.

Beth was drawing a blank, she had no idea what it could be and she wasn't going to guess chest. "Clue, please".

Rio ran his hand over his lower face. He pointed to his eye, then back to his chest, before finally pointing to Beth. "I love you too", she smiled.

"Time, I'm not sure that counts". Annie laughed, she remained undefeated. 

-

The confessions made dinner more awkward than it was going to be. They no longer needed to make the announcement, the cat was already out of the bag. Ben was sizing up Rio and he stood his ground, he was the right hand man of a gang, a fifty year old man didn't scare him. 

"What do you do for a living Rio?" Her dad asked, cutting into a piece of ham. Rio simply said that they knew he worked for his dad and he wasn't going to hide it. That only led to more prying as to what exactly he did.

Ben dropped the fork on his plate "I don't want my daughter dating a criminal, is she supposed to bail you out?".

Rio sneered a laugh, nodding along as everything piled on. Her dad wasn't listening to anyone's pleas to just have a nice dinner. Beth had invited Rio because she loved him, not to have him be put on trial.

She pushed back her chair, the legs screeching against the tiles. "I work with him, and before you say anything it was my choice, mine".

Annie slurped loudly through her straw, cutting through the tension. She knew Beth joined. Annie was bummed she wasn't offered a job on the spot, even after she told Rio she had been learning how to pick locks with youtube tutorials. 

Beth sat back down and Rio instantly grabbed her hand, resting them on her leg. "I'm good at it, right?". She looked to Rio, who nodded. "We're safe and..and it's separate from what Leon does".

Cindy brought her hand up to her chest, still processing the information. "In shows about..." she tried to form a sentence without offending anyone. "No one hit you, right? Tell me no one hit my baby".

Whether she was taking to Beth or not, Rio felt the need to answer on her behalf. "I ain't lettin anyone hurt her".

That seemed to be a good enough answer for her mom because she reached over to pat his shoulder, it was just like she used to when he was younger. Ben invited Rio to watch football the following weekend with some of his buds, the Lion's weren't in playoff contention, but they still watched for hours on end. She could see in his eyes that he wasn't convinced, that he was still very unsure of their relationship, but it appeared to be a step in the right direction. 

-

They started to pack up around eight. Food was placed in to go containers, and her mom was still confused on why Beth had made so many cupcakes. 

"After you Rio". Her dad held her apartment door open, but Rio didn't move from the couch. Ben mumbled something under his breath about trying to be okay with it, and that meant a lot to Beth.

"Can you come to the kitchen sweetheart?".

Annie gave Beth a quick hug goodbye when she walked into the kitchen, deciding to help their dad pack the opened gifts. Cindy motioned for her to have a seat on the stool. "If he makes you happy, I'm happy, I hope you know that".

Beth nodded, she knew her parents didn't mean any harm, well not her mother anyways. She and Rio weren't normal and they didn't have a normal relationship, it was hard to wrap one's mind around that. 

"And dad?".

Cindy laughed, "Rio might have to take him to a gun range, but he'll come around. He wants what's best for you and your sister". Having them alone with loaded weapons didn't sound like a good idea.

-

"Say it again" Rio kissed her neck. 

Beth laughed "I love you".

He pulled her further into his chest, wrapping his arms around her waist. "Love you too, tomorrow we'll make some money".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! I can't wait to hear your thoughts! 
> 
> Can't believe there's only 59 days until season 3!


	9. Twenty years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth learns more about crime life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all the kudos and comments on the last chapter & HereliesBethBoland for the binge comments I loved reading them!!
> 
> This was originally two chapters, but combined to expand later crime stuff. This has some 1.03 plot, but it has been changed to fit this AU.
> 
> I was going to wait and post this after Christmas, but I had the day off work.. so, I hope you enjoy!!

There was a reason Leon never flipped his game and stuck with cocaine. Once they got their hands on the product, they just had to move it. With counterfeit money it wasn't just perfecting the product, they needed to outsmart security systems.

The first sample they were given turned magenta when the pen was swiped over it. The paper on the second sample was too thin and ripped within hours, that wouldn't do. They were waiting on Cisco to get back with their third sample, he had been successfully bringing back the single bills without a hitch. 

After a long deliberation they decided it would be best if a better shooter went up to Canada. The partnership with Mike was still new and they didn't know if he had something up his sleeve. 

They did have something, or someone rather on their side making the money testing easier, it was Annie. She was a cashier at Fine and Frugal, she hated it and despised her manager even more, but she had access to the security pen they needed to bypass. 

_"Yes! I knew you'd need me" Annie exclaimed, tossing her arms in the air. She had wanted to join since she was twelve, and when Beth started dating Rio she thought it would've been a sure thing._

_Rio rolled his eyes, leaving Beth alone to deal with her sister._

Cisco would bring the bill back, Rio would check for any issues and then it would be passed off to Annie for the final check. Most of the time she would look before break, texting Beth the end results soon after.

-

Annie discreetly pulled the bill from her back pocket, reaching for the pen on the side of her register. 

"What do we have here?".

"It looked crispy, I was just checking it".

When Boomer ripped the bill from her hand, panic set in. Would he call the cops? Would he dock it from her pay? She couldn't lose one hundred dollars from her biweekly check. However, she noted this bill was already doing better than the second attempt, it was still in one piece. Boomer pressed the pen against the bill, a couple inches from the president's head to be exact and inspected it up against the light. 

Annie didn't breathe the whole time.

Boomer wasn't a good boss, he was lazy and incompetent. To make matters worse, Annie had to dodge his unwanted advances on the daily. She didn't want to go out with him, she didn't want to go with his family to church, and she sure as hell didn't want to have sex with him. Gross, not even if he was the last man on earth.

"It's legit. Good thing too, the customers long gone". Annie rolled her eyes as the bill was placed on the belt.

Her eyes searched the bill, unable to wrap her mind around the fact it was a success. They could actually do this. She quickly put out the lane closed sign and rushed to the break room, pulling out her phone. 

-

Beth was in the middle of dinner, she was making the sauce, Rio was on the noodles. Spaghetti had become their anniversary dinner. Her phone buzzed on the counter, she grabbed it after wiping her hands off with a nearby towel. 

"Annie said, and I quote, this shit is primo". Rio laughed, straining the noodles. "And, she wants to know how much it costs to smoke her boss… smoke?".

"Kill mama, still don't know the lingo?".

Beth's eyes widened, sending a "that's not funny" text back. Rio thought her sister was a riot and if he was being honest, Demon would probably do it for free.

She turned against the counter, placing her phone into her apron pouch. "What do we do now?".

"Gotta get rest the money".

That was easier said than done. On the way back with the last sample Cisco was stopped by border security, it turns out multiple trips within months was a red flag to some people. Since he didn't have any obvious contraband, or outstanding warrants, he was free to go. Rio wasn't going to risk him being arrested, so they needed to find another way to get the product. 

Beth was finishing up the sauce when an idea hit her. "Let us do it".

"Us?". Rio looked up at her, placing the second plate on the table.

"Annie, Ruby and myself".

He laughed, and Beth didn't know what was so funny. Sure, they weren't the definition of trained criminals and she was still learning, but the fact that she was willing to try should've counted for something.

"You know another Ruby? 'Cause _I'm not goin near guns_ ain't bout to join shit".

Ok, Beth had to laugh at his impersonation of Ruby. She hung out with them one time at the warehouse and that was enough for her. Rio had pulled out his gun and asked if they wanted to watch his target practice, Ruby refused to budge from the couch. She had been so terrified, but Beth still went with him.

"Trust me, I'll get her on board".

She was sure Rio would say no and tell her it was a crazy idea, but he did the opposite. "Aight". He ran his hand over his face, almost like he was facing an internal struggle. "You ladies got passports?".

Beth nodded, doing a light jog over to the table to kiss his cheek. Step one was complete, now she just needed to get the girls on board. Beth wanted to prove herself worthy of not only being Rio's girlfriend, but his partner. Their contacts refused to talk to her because she was an outsider, it made her think outside of the box, and there was nothing more out of left field then doing the pickups in Canada.

Neither of them were worried that Annie wouldn't want in, she practically begged everytime Rio was within talking distance. _"Come on, you can bone my sister, but you won't give me a job?"._

_"Annie, mouth". It wasn't like her sleeping with Rio had been a secret, she told Ruby the first time it happened. Annie found out years later when she read Beth's diary. She still wasn't over the fact Annie repeated a piece verbatim during a sleepover._

_"If my life were a movie, Rio would have asked me out by now. I don't feel used, I like having sex with him. I just wish I knew what I was to him"._

_That was so embarrassing. She stopped writing in it after that, she only started because sixteen year old Beth had a lot of unresolved feelings._

_-_

"No, no, absolutely not".

"Come on Ruby, you need the money for your wedding".

She had hoped to get married to Stan within the next year, but with her working for minimum wage at Dandy Donuts and Stan working security at the mall, it was looking more like a couple years down the line. Beth also had a backup plan, whenever she needed Ruby to do her a favor, she would bring donuts and not the _wack ass cheese danishes_ either.

"B...ok, but if we get arrested, I'm saying you kidnapped me".

Beth was ok with those terms, it was going to be a piece of cake. They didn't have visible tattoos that would raise alarm, they looked like normal, average women going shopping.

-

Rio sat up against the headboard, watching as Beth packed her small duffle bag. "You sure bout this?".

"Wait, are you worried?".

"Nah". She moved her bag to the end of the bed, and climbed onto his lap. "Could've fooled me". She brought her finger up to touch the crease that formed between his eyebrows, he was thinking too hard about it.

Rio's hands rested on her hips, leaning his head back against the headboard. "We'll be fine, I learned from the best". She pressed a kiss to the eagles wing, smiling as his hold on her tightened. Beth had taken hundreds of mental notes on how to survive in the crime world, Rio was an open book with her and even when he thought she wasn't paying attention, she was. 

"I know you got it".

Beth shifted her hips, purposely grinding against him. If something went wrong, she didn't want to leave any uncertainty on how she felt about him.

-

They chose Friday to do the run, Annie and Ruby both had the day off, and Beth's schedule was open since she decided to do crime full time. Annie was super pumped about this permanent position within the gang, she went out and splurged on snacks for the trip. Ruby, well Ruby still had cold feet.

-

"Be careful" Rio called out when she had her hand on the doorknob.

She smiled "always".

It was nice to have the roles reversed. Beth was so used to telling Rio that every time he left with his dad's employees.

-

"We should turn back" Ruby said, watching as they inched closer to the Canadian border. The sign was within view and there were four cars ahead of them.

"Uh..not a genius, but I think that screams suspicious".

"She's right Ruby, we need to get the money".

They got through security without a hitch, they were waved through seconds after handing their passports over for review. Easy enough. Beth's phone buzzed in the cupholder and Annie reached to grab it, swatting at her sister's hand when she tried to take it back. "Eyes on the road".

Beth sighed, gripping the wheel tighter as she followed the GPS.

"Oooh it's Rio, uh.. he said Mike will be out back and Demon found your panties. Wait, what?".

She ignored the second half of the text focusing in on where they needed to meet Mike. Ruby held back a laugh as Annie dropped the phone back into the cupholder. "How would someone find your panties?...oh oh!".

_Beth went to gather her clothes from the ground. She found her bra off to the side of the bed, but her panties were nowhere in sight. She was running late to get the girls, they had to be on the road by eight to get back at a reasonable time._

_"Relax, I'll find em"._

_Beth tightened her hold on the sheet. "If you didn't toss them so carelessly, they were new"._

_"Ey, you started it mami". So, that wasn't the point she was trying to make._

_-_

They pulled into the back lot of Canadian Crafts, it was a lot bigger than Cisco had described it. Since Beth was the one who got them into the mess, she decided to go get the boxes. 

-

"He said he doesn't have it".

"He don't have it, or he won't give it to you?".

"Why wouldn't he give it to me?". Beth was genuinely confused, Cisco never had problems getting the samples.

"Well he's not gang friend" Annie gave a pointed look, deciding to give it a try her way, only to come back empty handed a couple minutes later.

"I don't get it I was so nice".

Ruby laughed. "You, nice?", that didn't sound right at all. They ran through everything she said and agreed that her method of comparing them to his sisters was good, especially if he was holding the cash. They agreed up until, "and that he didn't wanna screw his sisters".

"Oh my god, Annie".

-

Ruby reached down to the floorboard, pulling a handgun from her purse.

"Damn, gangster"

Beth screamed, "don't point that thing at me, I know how bad your aim is".

She said that it was Stan's. That she borrowed it because they were dealing with shady people, that even though the chamber was empty, it might scare someone. Ruby stepped out of the car, adjusting her jacket and strut with all the confidence in the world back up to Mike. Beth was about to say for someone who was against crime, she wasn't bad at it, then the gun went off.

She shot Mike in the foot. They rushed over to see him writhing in pain on the pavement, his hand covered with blood. "I..shot…".

"Take the boxes, they're in the back".

They didn't need to be told twice. Once the boxes were loaded into the back, they sped out of the lot. "Is he going to call the cops? I'm gonna be arrested, Stan will leave me".

"Ruby chill, what criminal calls the cops? Beth back me up here".

Beth shot her a glare through the rearview mirror. "It'll be fine".

-

They arrived at the warehouse, the new one Rio set up to process their cash. It had a big number five on the door, which was an easy way for Beth to remember where it was at.

A group of six men started to unload the car once she pulled inside, taking the boxes from the trunk and backseat. They expanded their staff, well Rio did rather, taking on a couple unhappy members from his dad's gang. It wasn't like Leon cared, he probably disliked them all the same. The one downside to Rio being so welcoming during the expansion was Raquel tagged along.

"Have any issues?" Rio made his way up to them, waving someone off in the process.

"Nope, went as smooth as I- " Raquel cut her off, yelling across the warehouse. "Rioo, my dryer stopped working".

"I really, really don't like her".

Beth wasn't a jealous person, she had no need to be. Rio had reassured her that nothing was going on and nothing would happen between them. Raquel had been in the gang since she was fourteen, joining to get quick cash for her family. Beth had nothing against that, it was admirable, but her teenage crush on Rio was enough to bug. They weren't allowed to say they were in a relationship, only the girls and Demon knew. He said it was to ensure that someone didn't put a target on her back when he pissed them off, because inevitably that was going to happen.

Rio bit back a smile, reaching up to tilt her chin so she would be looking at him.

"What are you doing?". She watched as he leaned closer until their lips met. 

Even though Beth had a million questions racing through her head, she quickly gave in, bringing her hand up to his neck to pull him closer. She was fully aware that they were having a makeout session in front of the entire gang, but she didn't care. Annie whistled calling more attention to them, she didn't like that much.

Rio bit down on Beth's lip, his eyes searching her face when he stepped back. She licked her own lips, tucking a piece of hair behind her ear.

Raquel yelled out once again, clearly not happy with the sight unfolding in front of her. "Ya know, I think it's working now".

"See ya at my place, kay?". Beth nodded, watching as Rio walked back to give direction to the women sorting money.

-

Annie fanned herself when Beth turned around to face them, asking if crime sex was better than regular sex because she should look around the warehouse. Beth ignored her, sitting back inside the car. She couldn't stop smiling, he had broken his own relationship rule. There were several women who had blatantly flirted with Rio right in front of her and she took it. He held power and status it made sense, but for him to show everyone he was with her, it made her giddy. 

"Look at that smile" Ruby teased, poking at Beth's cheek. She couldn't help it, she really couldn't. Ruby might've shot big Mike in the foot, but overall the day went great.

-

Everything was going great. They would buy with the fake cash and return for real, the security pen failed each and every time.

-

Beth grabbed a couple coffee machines, an ice cream maker and through in a water slide because why not, it was all going back within the week. She stood patiently in line, waiting for the next cashier to be ready, running through the remainder of her plans for the day.

She would drop the stuff off at her apartment then run over to the warehouse, Rio was finally going to teach her how to shoot. She was excited, but extremely nervous. The cashier finished ringing up her items. "Your total is $3894.28".

No problem. Beth pulled out smaller stacks of pre counted cash and handed them over. Usually after three or four bills the cashier got tired, determining all of them were legit bills, but something had to mess with their easy method.

"What..what is that?".

The cashier pulled a large machine out from underneath the register. "It's to verify the bills".

"You don't use the pen thingy?". Beth felt the need to facepalm, way to look obvious. She told the cashier she'd just come back, but was waived off saying it wouldn't take long.

The pen worked, none of them had ran across this machine yet. Ruby had gone to the next store on the map to return their previous purchases, she knew Ruby would panic if it was brought out. Beth's palms got sweaty watching the machine shuffle through the cash. One stack in, three to go. Time was ticking by and each moment she was still waiting made her more nervous.

The green lights blinked on the machine, followed by the word approved and she let out a sigh of relief, loud enough for her to hear. "You want the receipt with you or in the bag?".

"Uh, I'll take it".

Holy shit that was close, but man that cash was good. She saw Ruby's car about halfway down the street, confirming that she too had gotten the verifier. It turned out managers were being called to sign off on returns as well, it was just another base they needed to cover. 

-

"And aim". Rio had one hand on Beth's hip and the other bracing her arm, the heat coming from his hand was making her lose focus on the target in front of her. She had waited for years, six to be exact for him to teach her how to shoot. Since they had to wait for the next batch of product to be ready, he figured now was as good of time as any.

Beth clipped the paper. "I'm never going to get this".

"Nah, you got it. Just gotta focus that's all". He moved away from her and stood off to the right side of the paper.

"What are you doing?".

"Shoot. This is how my dad taught me".

Beth shook her head. He clearly had taken too many blows to the head if he thought she was going to pull the trigger with him there. "Come on mama, you got this".

"I don't got...no Rio".

"Shoot".

"No".

"Elizabeth, shoot"

She aimed the gun at the target, her hands were shaking, this was going to end badly. Taking a deep breath, she pulled the trigger, hitting the paper target dead center. Beth let out a small laugh, she did it, she actually did it.

"What I say?" Rio smirked, walking back toward her. She laid the gun down and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her lips to his. "That was crazy, you know that right?".

"Nah, you were hot". 

Apparently that's how Leon trained the rookies, without trust they had nothing. If new members couldn't trust the men and women around them with their lives, he didn't want them in his organization. People would be lined up next to the targets, or the targets would be above their heads and they would have to pray their aim was good. There of course had been casualties, like all terrible ideas, a feud gone wrong would be all it took. For those who survived, it created a bond like no other. Rio had been fortunate enough to be paired with his dad, Leon didn't want anyone getting any shortcut to power ideas.

-

Rio growled as Beth lowered herself on his cock, rocking her hips against him. She would never be able to look at the couch the same way again. The pace started slow, then became more erratic the closer they got. "Oh." she moaned, his hand sliding between their bodies to circle her clit, it became too much. "Rio, oh fuck" she rode out both their highs.

-

Beth was gathering up her stuff to head back to the warehouse, she had another round of training with Rio. She opened her apartment door to see a man standing outside it, leaning against the wall.

"Miss Marks?".

"Uh..yeah, who are you?". He handed her a business card, FBI. He introduced himself as Agent Turner, but said she could call him Jimmy, she wasn't going to. He pulled out his phone, showing her a picture of Rio with another man she recognized from the gang.

"You know this man, don't you?".

"He's my boyfriend, yeah".

He clicked out of the picture, asking if he could come inside so the neighbors wouldn't hear the rest of the conversation. Beth didn't know what the protocol was, but figured not letting him inside her apartment would look suspicious, so she stepped back to let him enter.

Turner was nosey and she should've figured, doing laps around her living room, touching picture after picture as he did so. "Cute, childhood friends". He turned the picture for her to see, it was of them sitting on top of a jungle gym, they had to have been eight.

"You've been through a lot with him, haven't you Miss Marks?".

"It's Beth and I don't know what you're talking about".

He smiled, taking a picture of them off the wall. It was from Ruby and Stan's wedding, Rio was dressed up in a tux and she had on her peach maid of honor dress. "Are your parents ashamed you're dating an inner city gangbanger?".

Now he was pissing her off. Who did he think he was, walking into her house, badmouthing her boyfriend and then having the nerve to bring her parents into it. "I'd like you to leave now".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the chapter!


	10. Twenty one years old (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A year later and Turner has a few tricks left up his sleeve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OMG I'm sorry for the wait, I was creatively blocked and even though I knew what I wanted to happen this chapter, the words just didn't work. I hope this don't disappoint, I'm thinking this will be three(?) parts.
> 
> Thank you to everyone who left kudos and commented on the last chapter! ❤
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It took two weeks for Beth to come clean about Turner stopping by her apartment. She knew she had to, but it wasn't like he had came back. Then Rio asked her to move in with him and her conscience couldn't hold it anymore.

_"What'd he ask?"._

_"Nothing...he just stared at the pictures of us"._

_Rio laughed, "then we're good, mama"._

Beth didn't necessarily agree, it should be cause for concern when the FBI showed up asking questions. Rio was taught that he was above the law, so if Turner wasn't throwing out evidence, they were still in the clear.

To show that he wasn't intimidated, he hired on five more members from Leon's compound. The first being Eva, whom Beth was elated to see again. There were three rookies that had only gone through basic training and one Leon called an unpaid intern, his name was Noah.

Noah was a twenty seven year old, with four weeks of experience under his belt. He only joined to pay off his sisters debt and he avoided initiation because he wasn't on the payroll, Leon had rules after all. Rio didn't want him, but Beth convinced him to give the guy a chance.

-

"Why does the new guy keep staring at me?" Annie asked, separating the hundreds from the fifties.

"Maybe it's love at first crime". 

"Rio said he's a terrible shot and lacks street smarts, but he's nice" Beth added, passing more cash over to Ruby.

-

Cisco had taken Noah in, giving him a place to stay since Rio wasn't weird like his dad, no one lived inside the warehouse. He asked a lot of questions which Cisco reported back, Beth took it to be him getting to know everyone. 

_"Are relationships allowed?" Noah asked, adjusting the pillow beneath his head. He was longer than the couch, but he knew Cisco wouldn't tolerate his complaining, he had told him that on day one._

_"I guess, only Rio has been dumb enough to try"._

_"Rio, the boss? who's he dating?"._

_Cisco paused, debating if it was a secret or not, but considering they made out in front of everyone, he figured why not share. "Beth, she works the money"._

_Noah nodded, making a mental note since paper notes were frowned upon. "Is it new then, the relationship?"._

_Cisco laughed, "you got a crush on her or somethin? Listen, Rio loves her and unless you want a bullet between those eyes, it's best to back off"._

-

Noah excused himself from the boxing ring, it was the newest addition to the warehouse. He locked the bathroom door and turned the sink on, making sure the water was turned up enough to drown out his voice. He pulled out his burner phone, the one necessity in the crime world and dialed the number he was forced to memorize, the one for his boss, Agent Turner.

Rookie's on the police force were usually subjected to desk duties or ride alongs, when Noah started he specifically asked to be undercover, but never expected to be risking his life this early on. "I'm in, no, they don't suspect a thing".

"There is a Beth here. Ok, I'll work on her sister".

He flushed the toilet and waited for a couple minutes, everything had to go according to plan or his fellow officers would find his body in a dumpster.

"Were you talking to someone?" Raquel asked, catching Noah as he stepped out of the bathroom. 

"Myself, Demon roughed me up a bit in the ring".

Raquel nodded, "yeah, that happens when you're a weak ass bitch".

-

_The police academy graduates walked through the halls of the Detroit office. "Noah, your training officer will be Jim Turner"._

_They shook hands and the younger was led into the office to discuss his future. The training officers were not only there to show them the ropes, but help point them in the right direction if they were not a good fit._

_"So, Noah, you like field or undercover work?"._

_"Undercover. I want to be a detective too, sir"._

_That's when Turner got the idea for the perfect set up. He had shown up at Beth's apartment to ask about Rio, honestly, he thought a nice suburban woman would've been more forthcoming with information. When she kicked him out, he knew there was something going on that he wanted, no, needed to get to the bottom of. "How much do you know about the Vasquez cartel?"._

_"I know they run the biggest cocaine operation in eastern Michigan. If I'm not mistaken, Leon is believed to be behind four murders too"._

_"Good. He has a son, Rio, I think he has a sub organization and I want you to infiltrate"._

_Noah was worried that he would have to kill someone or go through hazing in order to be welcomed. Turner told him to suck it up and figure it out, if he didn't, he'd be permanently stuck on desk duty._

_-_

"We're short" Ruby said, going back through the cash a second time.

Beth stopped wrapping green rubber bands around the stacks. "What do you mean? We washed everything we were given".

Ruby shrugged, "ten grands gone".

They dumped all the cash back out onto the table and started to recount for the third time. Ten grand was missing from the total and Rio wasn't going to be happy if they didn't find it, or at least have an idea where it was. They decided to keep it hush and try to count again the next morning when they had fresh eyes.

-

Beth was still trying to get situated in the loft. While she had spent the majority of her days there, it felt different having boxes of her stuff waiting to be unloaded. Rio breathed out a laugh when he saw she changed the pillow slips into her green floral ones, at least she kept the gray sheets.

"You like it?".

Rio hummed, taking his side of the bed. Since they both preferred the right side, they played rock, paper, scissors for it. Even before Beth had moved in they had been toying with the thought of starting a family, but weren't sure if the timing was right now that the FBI had appeared.

_"You can't forget the fun part"._

_"Oh yeah? What's that?"._

_Beth ran her hands up his chest and over his shoulders, "trying"._

Beth climbed onto Rio's lap, if he wasn't scared, neither would she. She lowered herself down onto him and slowly started rocking her hips, ignoring the light squeak of the bed. Beth placed her hands on the headboard as the pressure built. "Mm" she moaned, back arching slightly as her head tossed back. Rio sat up enough to take her nipple into his mouth, causing another small whimper to escape her lips.

-

It was a new day and they still needed to find the missing ten grand, however once they stepped foot inside the door, they were greeted with chaos.

"What is going on?" Annie asked. Eva shook her head, mumbling something along the lines of 'the beginning of a turf war'. 

A fight broke out between a couple members in the main hall and from what Beth could see, Rio was involved. Demon stepped in front of him, taking a wild swing that knocked one of the rookies to the ground, what was his name? oh yeah, Javi.

"Where's your loyalty, bitch?" Bullet jumped in, giving a swift kick to the stomach, rolling the man over. 

"Should we stop it?".

Ruby's eyes widened, "uh no, homie clearly did something".

It turned out the missing ten grand was due to Javi handing it over to a rival gang, it was for ammunition and surveillance they needed to take over Rio's operation, no wonder they couldn't find it no matter how many times they counted. 

"Son of a bitch" Ruby all but yelled, covering her mouth when Demon turned in her direction. Over the months Ruby had gotten more comfortable with crime and even became close with Demon, mostly over their complaints about Beth and Rio, but it still counted.

Rio fired him, but since Javi was young, he was willing to let him go with only the beating. That didn't work for the rookie, he came on a mission and was intent on finishing it. 

"You're never going to be your father, you're a pussy" he spit out blood off to his side, "why don't I take your girlfriend out back and show her what a real man's like".

Rio nodded, rubbing his lower face, it was clear that he wasn't letting it slide. He reached down to his waistband and pulled out his gun.

"Do it, do it" Javi taunted from the ground and Annie didn't understand why he wasn't scared. She figured the guy had nothing to lose, or maybe he had been sent there to start the so called turf war one way or another. "You're not a leader, Beth's got your balls in her purse".

"Ok, you-" Beth started, only to be pulled back by Ruby's side.

Rio wasn't amused, almost like he expected that comment. He brought the gun's barrel to rest on Javi's forehead, "look away, Elizabeth".

"No, Rio, he's not worth it".

Ruby and Annie nodded in agreement, while the rest of the gang members appeared in favor of blood shed. "Look away".

The girls looked down at the ground and Beth felt her eyes squeeze shut as the gun went off. There was a loud ringing in their ears, it wasn't something they were used to, at least not without earmuffs. Screaming soon filled the air and it wasn't just from Ruby, it was from a man and they weren't experts on murder, but usually the victims weren't speaking after. Beth looked up to see Javi writhing in pain, holding his leg and it instantly gave Ruby flashbacks to shooting Mike up in Canada.

"Drop his ass off at their step".

Demon nodded, stopping Rio from entering his office. "Boss, they'll retaliate".

Rio shrugged, "we'll train em".

-

Beth walked into the office once she was able to collect her thoughts. She should've been scared that he pulled the trigger, but she wasn't. Javi wasn't just stealing from Rio, he was stealing from her. She stopped in front of him and he leaned forward, resting his head against her chest. 

"You did what you had too" she said, rubbing her hands over his back, it was something that used to calm him down when they were younger. Everyone knew Rio had a short fuse and there were three things he didn't tolerate: One, no one disrespected Beth, Two, no one compared him to his father and three, no one questioned his leadership. 

"Didn't wanna do that shit".

Rio leaned back to meet her eyes and she did the only thing she could think of, lean down to kiss him. "I know".

-

Noah locked himself back into the bathroom, his hands shaking at what he just saw. It had only been one week within the organization and he wanted to call it quits. He once again dialed Turner's number and waited for him to pick up, it was near eight, he shouldn't have been asleep.

"Your next check in wasn't until Wednesday".

"I want out, I think.." he lowered his voice, "I think there's a gang war starting".

That peaked Turner's attention, "good, gather the information. This is your cover Noah, how bad do you want to become a detective?".

This was his life until further notice, he was going to have to fight alongside them and pray he made it out alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm on tumblr at xstrawmari if you want to talk Good Girls. That poster and details on their S3 jobs, I'm so excited.. 36 days! 
> 
> I'm working on part 5 of Find your beach series, so this was a nice break.
> 
> I can't wait to hear your thoughts & thanks again for reading!!


	11. Twenty one years old (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Javi fallout continues and Beth gets some surprising news.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ah! I realized it had been far too long since I updated this one!
> 
> Thanks for the kudos & to MissTricey, s_t_c_s, Kshanae, Krishawndalyn+Clark for the comments! I loved reading them!
> 
> I hope it don't disappoint, the next chapter will have a bit of a time jump :).
> 
> I hope you enjoy and thanks for reading!!

Noah splashed water on his face, taking one last look in the mirror before he faced the unknown. It was abundantly clear that Turner didn't care whether he lived or died, just as long as he got the information to put the Vasquez's away. Was it worth it, sacrificing his life? While a king pin and his associates would be locked away for life, would it matter if he was six feet under. It wasn't Turner's life on the line, he was cozy in his office, but there wasn't anything Noah could do about it now.

-

They were placed in teams of two. Annie had drawn the short end of the stick, which meant she was paired up with Noah. He was ecstatic, she was disappointed, why did she have the worst luck at those games?.

Ruby was with Demon, the two of them bonded over their best friend's complaints. She never knew they were that close, but apparently Rio and Demon had been buds since they were sixteen. It shouldn't have surprised anyone when Beth and Rio were the last two standing, it was rigged for sure.

"You need to stabilize your hand" Noah tried to critique, earning a huff from Annie. She wasn't an expert, but she didn't need him in her ear pretending that he was. They all knew his background, he was a nobody from the middle of nowhere, who joined because his sister had an addiction. Nothing in that description said that he was an expert marksman, so she didn't need to hear it.

Annie missed the target completely, the bullet lodging in the padding on the back wall. The teams went one by one getting feedback after each. It was Ruby's turn and she had vowed never to touch a gun again after the Mike incident. Rio didn't understand why, he said she had more skill in an accidental shot than some of the rookies could dream of. That was self evident by the bullets hitting the white space on the board, what good would that do if they missed the target?

"They're not gonna wait for you to shoot em, Ruby".

"This bitch doesn't want to shoot anybody, I just wanted to quietly wash cash".

Demon raised his gun, firing three shots straight to the chest, causing Ruby to jump. "They already killed you".

It wasn't a shocker that Ruby didn't want to participate, it was hard enough getting her involved with the cash business. She was afraid that Stan would find out and if word traveled to the police academy, he could be kicked out. No matter how many times they promised her that would never happen, it was still in the back of her mind every time she stepped into Costco. 

Annie started to beat the bottom of the gun, despite a couple people telling her it was dangerous. Dangerous? They were in a warehouse full of gang members, with a rivalry on their hands, she could handle a little danger. 

"I think it's jammed, or is it out of bullets?" Annie asked, pointing the gun at Noah. He slowly raised his hands in the air, eyes glancing at the barrel, then back at her. "Freeze, fed".

The panic on Noah's face was priceless. He turned a ghostly white and sweat started to form on his brow. "It's a joke, jeez".

Annie turned back to the gate, aiming the gun once more and it fired. She laughed, "good thing I didn't pull the trigger, huh?".

Everyone found that way more amusing than Noah. Here he was risking his life for a chance to be a detective and every second he was undercover was bringing him closer to a heart attack.

Beth took the gun from Rio's hands, aiming at the target as she had been taught, easily putting two bullets into the targets shoulder. "Good job, mama". Rio gave her a quick kiss before taking her place. If anyone planned on hurting her, Rio or the girls, she wanted to make sure it wasn't easy. It couldn't all be on Rio's shoulders, they were partners and that's what partners did. 

-

"Do you really think they'll retaliate?".

Rio hummed, making his way to the foot of the bed. "Don't wanna talk bout that right now".

Beth rolled her eyes, feeling his lips on her stomach, his hands on her legs. He was going to have to talk about it eventually, it concerned everyone and there was only so much sex that could distract her.

-

Not much happened that week, unless they counted the signs spray painted on the side of the warehouse. An exclamation mark and a poorly written danger didn't scare anyone. Eva actually said the members were joking about it, saying they'd be coming after them with crayons next. Beth didn't think it should have been taken lightly, clearly they were able to breach the perimeter without being noticed by the watchmen. 

The girls were on high alert, taking turns counting the cash at the table so the others could keep watch. Beth was in charge of the gun, not without protests from Annie, she was just a better chance at survival. Rio was in meetings all day and she wasn't a hundred percent sure the other members would save them if the situation presented itself.

Some were power hungry and didn't like that Beth was second in command, the right hand woman if they wanted a name for it. They busted their asses for years with Leon and what did they have to show for it? Answering to a woman who knitted sweaters in her down time.

-

"Why would you listen to Beth?".

"We needed the money, Stan. Children are expensive and we're scraping by as is".

Stan sighed, dropping onto the couch. Ruby didn't want an argument, but she knew she would have to explain if an unknown gangbanger came to their door. It was just cash, it was hurting anybody.

-

Rio kissed on her neck, his hands roaming aimlessly under the covers. Beth's eyes closed when one slipped between her thighs. 

Her phone buzzed and he told her to ignore it, but one of the girls could be in danger and she couldn't have that. He groaned, rolling back to his side as she leaned over to the nightstand. It was Ruby, an all capitalized text reading 'turn on the tv, now'.

Beth did. They were reporting live from the scene of a shooting, it was breaking news across all local networks. Rio pulled away, sitting up when he recognized an all to familiar location, Leon's warehouse.

"Turn it up".

_"...police are considering this to be gang related and currently have no suspects at this time. With me right now is Agent James Turner who was first on the scene, James, what can you tell us?."_

Beth's breath caught in her throat, the swing hanging from the tree in the background, that's the same one Leon hung up for them when he stopped trying to separate them. She reached over, rubbing Rio's back. It couldn't be.

_"There are five confirmed dead and two have been rushed to the hospital in serious condition. We are suspecting gang activity and we encourage anyone in a four block radius to keep their doors locked tonight, thank you"._

Rio grabbed her phone and dialed his dad's number, waiting, frantically tapping his fingers against the blanket. Beth rested her head on his shoulder, holding him close. Even though Leon was terrible and an all around bad man, he was still his father and neither of them wanted anything to happen to him.

It kept ringing, then went to voicemail. Rio tried three more times before someone answered. "Marks?".

There was a collective sigh of relief, while the warehouse had been shot up, Leon had survived. Rio awkwardly tried to ask what happened, secretly letting slip that they both were in fact worried for him. They couldn't let that go to his head.

The rivals attacked his compound first, taking out several men, including Tony. Beth didn't feel sorry about that, he was a terrible person. Leon let them know that the stash was fine, they didn't care about the cocaine, but it made them aware that the only remaining target was them.

-

Days passed and training continued. Following the breaking news, Ruby decided to participate, she didn't want someone to come into her house and not know how to handle the situation. If it wasn't life or death, she would've persisted. 

"You live alone right?" Noah asked, reloading Annie's gun.

"You're not coming home with me, creep".

-

Then the day came. Gunshots rang out from the back of the warehouse, followed by one of their watchmen running in. Eva and the girls were rushed toward the office and told to stay low, but Beth didn't want to leave Rio.

Cisco came out firing, he didn't care if he killed or maimed the intruder. Demon was more strategic in his assault, standing off to the side of the wall.

The window in the office shattered behind them and they rushed out to the chaotic main hall. Nowhere was safe and they weren't even armed. The shots rang everywhere and anywhere, people were heard groaning on the ground and don't even get Ruby started on the puddles of blood in front of her.

Annie came face to face with someone unfamiliar, a man with a long goatee and a septum piercing. There were a lot of things she could comment on, but now wasn't the time or place. Noah tackled him to the ground, the gun went off in the scuffle.

Noah rolled off the man, grimacing, his hand holding onto his stomach. The enemy was slow to get up, which allowed Cisco to make quick work of him. 

"Get him to the bathroom, apply pressure".

That was all the instructions they needed to get out of there. Ruby already wasn't going to sleep for the rest of her life. Annie pulled off her jacket and held it to his wound. "You're an idiot, I could've taken him".

Noah attempted a laugh, which was more of a wheeze. 

Ruby started to pray in the back corner, for their safety, for the gang to make it out safe and for this whole turf war to be over. They flinched when someone pounded on the bathroom door, Ruby covering her mouth to block the scream that was stuck in her throat.

"Elizabeth, Elizabeth".

Beth made a crack in the door, seeing Rio frantically exiting the office. She stepped out, peeking back inside only to tell the girls to wait for her all clear.

"Is it over?".

Rio placed his gun in the waistband of his pants, "for now, yea. You good?".

Beth nodded, letting him pull her into a hug. She ignored the blood spatter on his shirt, none of this was his fault. 

"We need'a get out of here. Yo, Noah, can you walk?".

They knew the cops had to have been on their way, if not already waiting for them outside. Even though it wasn't in a residential area, the gunshots would alarm any passersby. They had lost four men, the other gang twice as many. Rio could only hope that the few who fled told their leaders that it wasn't worth it. 

-

Noah woke up in a veterinarian's office, lying under a bright light. To his right was a small bowl with a bullet and several bloody paper towels.

"About time, you made me stay here all night" Annie complained, standing up from the chair. "Hey doc, we got movement".

The doctor was on their payroll for minor situations like this. Cisco's dog was a frequent visitor and after a drug deal gone bad, so were Leon's boys. Everyone had a price, all they had to do was name it. 

"You stayed?".

"They made me. I guess it's the least I could do since that was intended for me" Noah smiled, reaching out for her hand. "Eww, I don't like you".

-

Beth paced around the bathroom, nervously waiting for the pregnancy test to give her results. It was the worst time imaginable, but she was late. 

Ruby was by her side, it was something she wanted to get out of the way before Rio came home, just in case it was a false alarm. The FBI insider told them he deleted any reports regarding the warehouse, that would explain why no police had shown up. 

The downside to that was that there were several bodies that needed to be removed, luckily he had a team for that, the cleaners. Not only were they the hitmen, they also specialized in making situations go away and by go away they meant six feet under.

"Ok, B. Do you need me to look at it?".

Beth shook her head, no matter how nervous she was, it was something she had to do. Her hands shook as she reached for the stick. "It's.. positive".

"And how do you feel about that?".

"Happy, I'm… I think we can do this".

Ruby nodded, pulling Beth into a hug. "You're going to be an amazing mom".

-

Rio walked in about three hours later and to Beth, time had gone ridiculously slow. She had gone over a hundred different ways to break the news, even scrolling through pinterest to look for ideas. It was never about theatrics with them, it was always straightforward honesty and she was going to continue that.

"Sup, mama?".

Beth held out the stick, not exactly how she planned on it going. She gnawed at her lip, watching his face go through a journey. It started as confusion, transitioning into realization, then happiness. He stepped forward, hesitantly placing his hand on her stomach, "foreal?".

She nodded, resting her hand on top of his.

It wasn't going to be easy, but they could do it because they had each other. Beth's phone buzzed, it was Annie. She put it on speaker phone, knowing Ruby had already spilled the beans. "Bitch, you peed on the stick without me?".

"I'll see you tonight, Annie".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That trailer whew! We are in for a crazy rollercoaster and I'm so excited! 
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr xstrawmari :)
> 
> Once again thanks for reading and I can't wait to hear what you think!!


	12. Twenty four years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little time jump, brings a lot of changes

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for the kudos on the last chapter & to Lexx007, s_t_c_s, tiffswonderland, MissTricey, floweringrebel, Krishawndalyn+Clark & Raymariexxx for the comments! I loved reading them & it made me sit down & actually start writing this one! ❤
> 
> Also, Ruby & Stan do have Sara, I implied it last chpt & realized I never expanded on it until now.. oops! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy this little filler/ transition chapter!

"Ruby, can you get the cake?" Beth grabbed the stack of plates from the counter, "and Annie, the forks".

Rio kept Marcus occupied as the guests trickled in. It was his second birthday and that wasn't the only thing that changed between them, they had a second on the way. They decided that was their limit, it was already going to be chaotic having a newborn on top of Marcus going through his terrible twos.

"Daddy, ball".

"Alright, lil' man" Rio chuckled, holding out the soft ball. "You good, mama?".

Beth nodded, dropping off the plates. Time was sneaking up on them, she only had a couple months left before their family grew to four. The turf war had calmed down, seemingly forgotten aside from the few run ins during drops. To top it all off, the doctor told her she shouldn't lift over twenty pounds, which meant restrictions at work. The storage containers were filled with money and those got quite hefty, she felt bad that Annie and Ruby had to carry them in by themselves. She made it up to them with chocolate chip cookies, that was something the doctors couldn't take away from her.

Leon was thrilled that their first born was a boy, he made a training plan and Rio quickly shot it down. Their son wasn't going to be involved in that life, not if they had anything to say about it. Once Leon realized that his efforts were futile, he attempted to be a normal grandpa, only it didn't come as naturally as it did for Ben. Take their presents for example: her parents had gotten an indoor hoops set, Camilla went with a bicycle and Leon, well Leon decided boxing gloves were suitable.

"Who invited Noah? He's not family".

"Annie, we couldn't _not_ invite him". They opened up the birthday party to every member, after all they were a huge help when it came to meetings. Their parents offered to watch Marcus, but they didn't necessarily trust Leon and couldn't put it all on the others' shoulders. 

Often they would bring Marcus along with them, putting him in a playpen or bouncing him on their laps, he loved that. The members enjoyed having him around. Maria bought him a plethora of hot wheels and Cisco played peek-a-boo, it always made Marcus laugh, but nothing topped Demon.

_Rio put together a small library for Marcus, they read to him during their breaks and he enjoyed looking at the pictures in the meantime. Beth recalled the day she walked in and Demon was camped out on a beanbag chair, reading Clifford the Big Red Dog._

_Marcus was glued to his spot, listening to the different voices Demon created. Yes, he even had a high squeaky one for Cleo, which was far too amusing._

_"..I throw a stick, and he brings it back to me. He makes mistakes sometimes". Demon brought the book closer, "what's he got?"._

_"A man" Marcus giggled, putting his hands on his knees._

_Beth smiled, stepping out of the doorway. This was their extended family and there was no place else they'd rather be._

_-_

"Honey, this party is something" Cindy said, stopping beside Beth.

"Yeah. You have to meet Eva, she made that amazing seven layer dip dad's been devouring".

"Mommy" Marcus whined, his hands flying out in front of him. He must've finally got tired of hanging out with Rio, even from birth he played favorites. 

They took turns when it came to feedings, diaper changes and rocking him back to sleep, that's what partners did. Whoever got stuck with the least amount of shifts were put in charge of the meetings, that changed once the second test came back positive. Rio didn't care if he had two hours of sleep, he wanted Beth to be well rested not only for herself, but for the baby, his family was all he cared about.

"There's my birthday boy". Marcus buried his face into her leg as people stopped by. Many wanted to say how cute he was, or mention how he reminded them of Rio as a child. He did have a fondness of button ups, but in his defense, that's what people gave her at the baby shower.

"Make a wish". Rio picked Marcus up, allowing him to blow out the candles. The cake was marble, which turned out to be way better than Beth expected it to. While she baked, Rio wrapped the gifts. He was great at so many things, that was not one of them. See, the Vasquez's never wrapped their presents, so he never had to learn. He had four fresh paper cuts by the end of the night and there had only been five packages.

Knowing Marcus his wish was probably for more toys or the ability to watch Doc Mcstuffins as long as he would like.

Noah snuck around to the side of the house, listening to yet another voicemail from Turner. He had a sense of clarity when he got shot, a sort of realization that the FBI wanted him to tear apart a family, not an organization. It wasn't something Noah thought about when he infiltrated, hell, it hadn't crossed his mind at all in the two years he's been under. 

They were nothing but welcoming and maybe that's what threw him off. Cisco gave him a place to crash when he had nowhere to go. Eva added sloppy joes to the menu because he liked them and don't get him started on his infatuation with Annie. He was supposed to squeeze information out of her and find out the innermost details, but he couldn't bring himself too.

_"Her favorite color is yellow and she loves drinking peppermint schnapps"._

_Turner sighed, "the investigation, Noah"._

_"I have nothing, sir"._

That was a lie. Noah knew that they were planning to use their counterfeit bills to purchase pills from Canada, he even had the name of the supplier, but he kept that information to himself. Turner was on a power trip and he didn't want to be apart of it, although being in a gang for years wasn't what he expected when he graduated from the police academy. 

_"Noah, it's been three weeks since you checked in. If I don't hear from you Thursday at twelve, I'll take matters into my own hands"._

He knew he needed to call him back, luckily for him there were still three days to formulate a plan and perfect a script.

-

The plan to switch to pills was still in motion, it wasn't something that could be done overnight. It would be less groundwork in the long run and with everyone's families growing, what would be the point if they couldn't spend time with them?

They were going to use bottles of Tums and chewable vitamins to mask the pills, but realized that would leave them with more clean up than they wanted. Then Beth thought of a genius idea, cars. They would use the fake cash to purchase vehicles and have them sent from up North. Rio quickly added it could work if they hid them in the airbag compartment, but having cars sent to warehouse would raise red flags.

She saw where he was coming from, but problem raised, problem solved. They could use Boland Motors. Beth hadn't been there since she was fifteen and Dean was trying to win her over with a yellow Corvette his dad intended to sell, but maybe with Dean in charge they could strike up a deal.

_"Fuck, no"._

_"Rio…it's a good plan"._

_"Should've beat his ass"._ He caved, he always caved when it came to her. Beth decided they'd give it a year to see if something better came up, if not, she would personally go to the dealership and see if he'd be willing to join. She knew that Rio remembered all the shit talking Dean did around town, calling him a criminal who stole guys girlfriends, that he had certain diseases that everyone should avoid. Dean was petty and couldn't handle the fact that Beth chose Rio. 

-

"Is she in labor?" Stan asked, sitting beside Ruby. It was a family affair and they took up a large section of the waiting room. Everyone from Demon to Annie was there, waiting to meet the newest member. Those two months flew by and before Beth knew it her water had broken. It was terrible timing too, they had a meeting with Paul, the pill supplier, which was obviously going to have to be rescheduled. 

Sara was sitting on the ground, playing a random table game with Marcus. It had blocks that needed to travel over loops to get to the otherside, who didn't love a generic hospital game. Sara was eight months older than Marcus, which worked out great for the girls.

"Rio hasn't come out yet".

It was going on three hours and no one had moved a muscle. Noah bought a bunch of snacks from the vending machines and passed them around. He made sure to save Annie the one cool ranch Dorito, not that he remembered everything she liked.

Annie took a bite, chip crumbs falling onto her chest. "Damnit and we haven't heard her threaten to chop off his balls so, make of that what you will".

Ruby rolled her eyes, that was the play by play of what Annie imagined it would be like. _"I'd be screaming, this is your fault, you dick",_ were her exact words.

Cisco pat Noah on the back, wishing him good luck. Annie wasn't the only one who caught onto his schoolboy crush. Maybe her constant threats would scare him off once and for all.

Rio came out an hour later in the most ridiculous getup. Demon snapped a picture saying it was going on the warehouse refrigerator, he remembered why they didn't invite the members for the first go. "Gotta be quiet, she's asleep. C'mon, pop".

Annie grabbed her chest the second she walked in, Jane was in Beth's arms, her small hand gripping her index finger. 

Beth motioned them forward with her free hand. Rio brushed a few loose strands out of her face and took his seat beside the bed. It didn't take long for Marcus to step away from Annie and climb onto his lap, peeking over the railing at his sister. They tried to tell him that he was going to be a big brother, but it didn't click until he saw Jane. 

She moved her arms so Rio could hold Jane for a bit, while giving her time to get feeling back into them.

-

They were attempting to make dinner, but with Jane crying and Marcus loudly reminding them that she was, was only slowing down the process. "I got it" Beth said, leaving Rio to tend to the food.

"Can you grab that bowl?".

Rio knew if he didn't keep Marcus's focus on the kitchen, he would just follow Beth into the room and intentionally wake up Jane. He wanted someone to play with and that's part of the reason they tried for another, but Jane couldn't play with his big boy toys yet. Marcus understood that loud and clear, so much so that he grabbed from the collection of rattles. It was cute that they got along, but she wasn't as energetic as a two year old.

"But Jane".

"Yea I know, Pop. When she gets up, alright?".

Marcus pouted, but nevertheless grabbed the bowl to help Rio out. It turned out the crying was a diaper change, one of the many perks of parenthood.

-

At seven months Jane learned how to crawl, it had been something Marcus was determined to teach her, he inherited that from Rio. He would crawl across the floor and turn around to make sure she followed, she always did. 

"We're gonna have troublemakers once she learns to walk". Beth laughed, it wasn't a lie.

Just like with Marcus, they brought Jane to the warehouse. Everything was childproof and it made them realize some of the members struggled with the locks on the toilets. They didn't want to take any risks, so no room was left untouched. 

There was also no shooting while they were around and no guns were allowed near the main hall, the only place they could have them was outside. They wouldn't risk bringing their kids there if they weren't a million percent sure the war was over. Even Ruby started bringing Sara around, that had to have been the biggest surprise to them both.

-

It was when Stan came to pick her up that he noticed Noah. He looked familiar, but he couldn't determine if it was from work or around town.

Ruby told him Noah's background and something just felt off, so he said he would look around the station and see if anything pulled up.

-

"Would you…will you, yeah. Will you go out with me?" Noah practiced in the hall mirror, not noticing Raquel's look of disgust over his shoulder.

"Wow, you really are pathetic. What is this sixth grade? You're gonna put a note in her locker askin check which box applies? Get over it, love sucks and then you die".

Maria shook her head, making her way down the hall. She let him know that Annie was way less intimidating than she let on and that Raquel, well she got moody whenever Rio mentioned how amazing Beth was.

-

Noah stopped by the table just as they finished the cash count. They had been slowly counting their remaining product so they could see how many cars that would buy. Nobody expected there to be three storage lockers full, it was going to take a lifetime to get a grand total.

"Annie -".

There were way too many eyes on him, as if asking out the boss's sister wasn't common. He started rambling his practice speech, stuttering when Rio sat down beside Beth. It had nothing to do with Turner or the investigation, at least that's what he kept telling himself.

Annie sighed, "look, Noah, I only date guys that sing".

Ruby shook her head, that wasn't the case at all. Hell, Annie just went on a date with a douchebag from the electronics store last week and he was already married (not that she knew it at the time). She was really making him work for it and while it was highly entertaining, Ruby did feel a little bad.

He belted out his best rendition of grease lightning, turning to face the back wall to block out the other members. Annie snorted, "oh my god, it was a joke". Noah really didn't get her humor.

"You didn't have to be cute and break out into a musical".

"Did you..call me cute?".

"Eww, no".

Beth took the cash from in front of Annie and dropped it into the storage container. She remembered when she and Rio acted like that, they were younger and way less obnoxious. 

-

Ruby hung her jacket up by the door and kissed Sara on the head, making her way through the living room to find Stan. He was sitting on the couch, looking through a stack of papers.

"What's going on, babe?".

He looked up, turning a page around. "He's FBI, Ruby".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading & I can't wait to hear your thoughts!
> 
> Tumblr: xStrawmari


	13. Twenty five years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The fallout and a new business opportunity presents itself

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WHAT?! I didn't forget about this?! haha, I had extreme writers block and had an end goal with the chapter, but no idea how to get there.
> 
> Just want to say thanks to everyone for the kudos & comments on picking up the pieces & eventually the pieces will fall into place, I've decided to make a s3 drabble series bc Brio, am I right?
> 
> Anyways...enough rambling, I hope you enjoy!! :)

"He's FBI, Ruby".

She took ahold of the paper, reading through the profile Stan got from the station. It listed him at three years of service, which was just as long as they had known him. It didn't make sense, Leon was meticulous with his venting and even if Noah bypassed initiation, there was no way they didn't run a background check.

Ruby had only met Leon three times and it didn't matter if she was twelve or twenty five, he sent chills down her spine. 

She needed to tell Beth, there was no way in hell she was telling Rio directly. 

_____________________________

Jane ran around the living room in her diaper, refusing to let Beth put on her pants. It certainly didn't help that Marcus kept chasing her.

"Rio".

He turned off the stove, waiting around the corner to catch one of the youngsters, it happened to be Jane. "Gotcha". She giggled, bouncing her hand on his shoulder. 

Marcus celebrated his victory by shooting hoops in their play area. Out of all the toys he had gotten for his birthday, he used that one the most. They were spending the night with Leon, he wanted to prove that he could be a grandpa and Beth already forewarned him that if Marcus came home with boxing gloves or whining about gunshots, they would have a serious problem. 

There was a knock at the door, Marcus rushed forward, "G'pa".

"Alright, Pop, hold up".

Beth laughed, watching Rio chase after their son. It wasn't like Marcus could reach the doorknob, but he'd certainly swat at it until one of them opened it.

_____________________________

Ruby paced around the kitchen, trying to reach Beth, only to reach her voicemail every time. 

After the fourth attempt, she called the one person who had experience in that department, Demon.

_____________________________

Rio placed the plates in the sink, having finished their anniversary dinner. It became tradition for them to have spaghetti, like they had for their first date. 

"The kids are gone".

He nodded, "you tryin to watch below deck or somethin?".

That got a chuckle out of her. Whenever Ruby and Stan had a date night, it would always involve cheese puffs and their reality shows, they really were two of a kind.

While Rio and Stan weren't the best of friends, they tolerated each other, they sort of had to. It all came down to their line of work, Beth knew a part of Stan resented her for dragging Ruby into the mess.

______________________________

She watched as he slid her panties off, settling between her legs. Rio was a tease, he always had been and while it frustrated her to no end, he always made it worth the wait. So she tried to hold back the sighs when he kissed her inner thigh, stopping just short of where she wanted him. 

His tongue brushed her clit, her lips parting to let a whimper escape. 

Rio slipped in a finger, then another, "mm".

________________________________

He pulled away, "gonna come, mama?".

Beth answered by bringing her hands to the back of his head, to which he obliged, sucking and humming against her.

"Fuck" she moaned and Rio didn't let up. Her back arched slightly, feeling her body twitch beneath him. "Rio….I..".

He licked his fingers and she sat up, as quickly as her body would let her, pulling him into a kiss. She could taste herself on his tongue and oh how she missed being them.

"Love you, Elizabeth".

Beth pulled him back down, his body hovering over hers, "I love you too".

_____________________________

Ruby walked into a sketchy bar down on Carson, apparently it was the gangs hangout and if it had nicer decor she would've assumed Rio owned it. 

Demon was waiting for her, two drinks were already on the table, his phone in hand and she just hoped he wasn't telling Rio that he was meeting her. The thing was, Ruby didn't want blood on her hands, but she's seen mafia movies and knew what happened to rats. She might as well sign Noah's death certificate now, Demon was Rio's right hand man.

"You look like you're bout to vomit".

She sat down across from him, taking the drink he slid her direction. Never and she means never did she expect them to be friends, they came from very different backgrounds and quite frankly, crime scared Ruby.

"What would you do if you found out someone was a rat?".

"Kill em" he answered truthfully, downing the remainder of his drink.

That's what she was afraid of. "Then again, if the someone who knew told someone else, wouldn't that make them a snitch?".

"Ruby, what do you know?".

She tapped on the glass nervously, regretting how she finished it shortly after coming in. What the hell, it was too late now. "Noah is FBI".

_______________________________

"Close your eyes".

Annie played along, even going as far as to cover them with her hands. 

She had been officially dating Noah for a couple of weeks and while Annie hated that she gave in, he was such an awkward dork, it made it hard not to.

"What do you think?".

"I think it's….me?" He held out a caricature, if it wasn't for the alien tattoo on her forearm, it could've been any woman. 

"I did it at the range, it was either that or fight Cisco".

"Smart choice" Noah smiled, leaning in to capture her lips.

___________________________

To her surprise, Demon didn't seem shocked. She would be relieved if they already knew and handled the situation, no harm, no foul on her end. Maybe that's why he beat him up in the boxing ring years back, maybe they had a six sense for feds.

"Figured".

Ruby tossed her hands to the side, knocking her glass in the process, "and, what are you doing about it?".

"Nothin, boss will handle it".

Rio would handle it? That's what she was afraid of. While he was a father of two and Beth's soulmate, there was a reason Rio was the most feared man in the warehouse. 

__________________________

"Alright, thanks man".

Beth caught the tail end of the phone call, from his change in tone it didn't take her long to realize it was work related.

The kids had fun with Leon and were tucked in bed, their three little pigs bedtime story completed. They wanted to hear it twice, but there was only so many times she could huff and puff.

"Demon?".

He hummed, pouring them both a glass of bourbon. "We gotta snitch".

"Wh...what?".

"Stan got Noah's profile and shit".

No, there was no way. Noah came from Leon's compound and was traded way back when he was dating her sister for crying out loud. Annie had terrible luck with men, Greg and then Brad or Bryan, whoever he was from the electronics store, she really thought Noah was different. So help her if he was using Annie, Beth would deal with him herself.

"We gotta handle it".

Everyone knew what handling the situation meant, it was the part of the business Rio dealt with and she pretended not to know about. 

"Annie's not going to like it, there has to be another way".

___________________________

Noah was shoved on the ground by Cisco, he felt personally betrayed. He let Noah sleep on his couch without paying rent, gave him relationship advice and even walked him through the basics. They weren't best friends because Cisco didn't do that, but if he did, he was sure that's what people would label it.

"Snitching son of a bitch".

Rio held up his hand, telling Cisco to stop and squat down to see Noah's busted up face, blood dripping onto the floor.

"Beth, do something" Annie yelled, being held back by Ruby. It wasn't something that they needed to get involved in and if Noah had told Turner everything, there was no way Annie was left out of the report. Even though Beth was second in command, it wasn't her place to step in, Rio was the leader and ultimately was going to decide what was good for the group.

"Whatcha tell em, Noah?".

"Nothing" he whispered, dropping his head.

Everyone referred to Rio as the king, it was something Leon quickly got behind. He had proven his worth and had shown great leadership when Leon's group was ambushed, that's all he wanted for his son. Maria mentioned in a meeting that Beth was the queen and possibly was more badass than Rio, he didn't dispute that.

"Alright, I ain't believin shit you're saying" he used his gun to nudge Noah's face. "Tell me again, what did you tell Turner?".

"...I love Annie and I wasn't snitching for him".

Noah tried to compare himself to Beth and said he sacrificed to stay beside Annie, inferring that she had done the same for Rio, that wasn't their relationship at all. Ever since Beth turned thirteen, she knew the only place for her was at Rio's side, that was her choice.

"I...I'll go through initiation if you want, cut off a finger if you need to".

Rio rocked his jaw, motioning for Beth to come forward. If it wasn't for his close relationship with Annie, the decision would've been easy, instead he needed a second opinion. "Elizabeth?".

Beth looked first to her sister, then to the broken man in front of her. She shook her head, sparing his life. Neither of them should be responsible for his death, plus she didn't want to infuriate Annie further. 

"You're going to tell Turner we're shutting down and that you want your job back, okay?".

"W..why?".

"To feed him information". Rio turned to Beth, impressed, it seemed like she could plan for everything. It would've been easier to pull the trigger and dump his body in the back alleyway, but that wasn't how they agreed to run their organization. 

Ruby let go of Annie and the group watched as she dropped to her knees, looking over his face. Raquel scoffed, calling her weak, to which Beth assigned her to night watch. No one insulted her sister, ever.

___________________________

Today was the day, Beth was going to Boland Motors and was pitching their partnership. The plan was to have pill filled cars shipped to the lot, and in return, Dean would get a fifteen percent cut. The dealership was struggling, that much was clear by the constantly empty guest parking.

She planned to take the kids inside with her and Rio offered to sit in the car, he wasn't fooling anyone, Beth knew he'd make his way inside with some excuse. 

Beth held the door open, letting Marcus push Jane in the stroller, he struggled a bit, so she lightly guided it to make him feel strong. Dean waved off another employee, "Bethie, I haven't seen you in years".

"Hi, Dean".

"And you got kids! I knew you'd leave that criminal".

_Criminal_ , there was that word again. There was nothing that Rio did that Beth wasn't doing herself. He started out with Leon's cocaine business, so had Beth. Rio moved to counterfeit money, so did she. They made the joint decision to switch to pills, so if it wasn't for his tattoos, no one would label him as such.

It wasn't just them, everyone was doing it for a reason. Ruby and Annie's were well known, Cisco was paying for his mom's hospital bills and Maria was sending money back home for her nephew's school. They were good people doing bad things. 

"Daddy" Marcus's feet pattered against the tiles, no longer interested in the conversation in front of him. Jane tried to get out of the stroller, her small hands pulling on the belt. 

Beth shook her head, unfastening the belt and picked her up. When Rio got close enough, Marcus was leaning over his shoulder, Jane reached for his nose. 

"She forgot Mcstuffins" he held out the plushie with his free hand, see, Beth knew he had an excuse ready.

Dean was in shock, complete and utter shock. When Beth came in with the kids, he probably assumed it was fate giving him a second chance, there was no way in hell he expected Rio to walk through the dealership doors next.

It should've been obvious, no one saw Beth with anyone other than Rio, herself included. 

"We have a business proposition" Beth started, feeling Dean's attention slipping.

"....his?".

"Dean, we're here to talk business".

______________________________

He agreed, not willingly, Rio threatened to use a crowbar on the yellow vette if he didn't. 

"You don't know anything about cars".

"I didn't know anything about counterfeit bills either, the first shipment will be Wednesday".

In order for it to work, Beth took up a part time position within the dealership, that way she could ensure the books were to their liking. They didn't want the feds back on their trail because Dean made a stupid mistake and they knew he was full of those. 

____________________________

"Ruby and Annie can split drops, we'll do the rougher neighborhoods".

Beth nodded, it was their plan after all and they were far better shots, at least Rio was.

"And Noah told Turner we've shut down, that gives us time to get this up and running" She wanted to continue, more importantly ask if the blazer Ruby picked out was too much, but he was staring, "what?".

"Nothin, jus' glad my parents moved next to yours".

"Me too" Beth pushed up on her toes, pressing her lips to his, "think we can be quiet?".

His eyebrow popped, watching her sample blazer drop to the floor. 

_____________________________

Rio's phone went off at four in the morning, two hours before Beth was supposed to head to the dealership.

He groaned, reaching over to see Annie's name flashing across the screen, "your sister".

Beth answered, hitting the speakerphone. "Annie, is everything alright?".

"Can Demon smoke him now? He's driving me nuts".

Rio plopped back down on the pillow, mumbling "G'night Annie". Beth laughed, telling her sister they'd talk about it at the warehouse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!! I can't wait to hear your thoughts! 
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr @ xstrawmari


	14. Twenty five years old (part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beth starts at Boland Motors and is Noah willing to fall in line?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, it didn't take me a month to update this! This is kind of a filler chapter, the next will feature the pill drops and more of the dealership.
> 
> Thank you for the kudos & to Miss Tricey, Kshanae, s_t_c_s and tae200243 for the comments on the last chapter, they meant a lot! 
> 
> I hope you enjoy!!

Beth tried to prepare for her first day at the dealership by reading a car manual cover to cover, highlighting the section on airbags. The plan was for their employees in Canada to load the pills in the airbag compartments, then ship them down south so Beth could sign for them. They didn't even need to take the product out, Rio arranged to drop the whole car off with their buyers. It was perfect, there was no way it could end badly.

Rio was going to do the heavy lifting at the warehouse, which included making sure Cisco didn't murder Noah while she was away. She still couldn't believe it, they took him under their wing and for what, so he could turn them in? The betrayal was felt throughout the organization, and deep down they all knew how it would end once he was no longer of value to them.

Death. 

It was blood in and blood out with Leon's gang and that was slowly seeping into theirs, snitching wasn't tolerated in their line of work. 

Beth groaned into her pillow at the faint sound of the alarm, it didn't matter how prepared she felt heading into a new environment, having only four hours of sleep sounded like a recipe for disaster. She tried to move Rio's arm to no avail, instead he pulled her back into his chest. 

Beth poked his hand and he moved, just not in the way she expected him to. He pressed his lips to the side of her neck, mumbling, "mornin".

"Rio-" it sounded more breathless than she intended. 

He hummed, "Elizabeth".

A moan escaped her lips when he palmed her breasts. Beth supposed she could skip breakfast, wear whatever blouse was first in their closet and grab a bagel on her way into the office. So she rolled over, just enough to straddle his lap "we have ten minutes".

__________________________

She decided to throw on the blazer, not only was it a gift from Ruby, but she thought it made her look professional. There wasn't a uniform when it came to gang life, at least not technically. A few of the members had facial tattoos and Beth absolutely loved the one on Rio's neck.

Her parents not so much.

Jane and Marcus were sitting on the floor, passing a ball back and forth. It did pain Beth being away from them for eight hours, but she was making this sacrifice for their family. It wasn't something Rio could do, even if he wanted to there was no way in hell Dean would let him through the doors again. 

"Say bye, mama" Rio sat down beside them, smiling as Jane copied his wave. 

Marcus pushed himself up and ran to give her a hug. She wasn't going to cry, nope, she had to hold it together no matter how much it tugged on her heartstrings. Beth kneeled down, giving Marcus a peck to his forehead, which he immediately wiped off.

Beth then gave Rio a kiss since Jane was determined to bury her face in his chest. 

"I'll be back at five".

_____________________________

The dealership looked different when it wasn't operating with a skeleton crew. It didn't take her long to find Dean, he was standing off to the side of his beloved Corvette.

Beth couldn't help but wonder if it was the same one from highschool. It wasn't something she was going to ask though. The last thing she wanted to do was to give Dean false hope about what this was, she wasn't there for him, it was only to move their pills.

His secretary, Amber, didn't spare her a second glance when she walked into the showroom. Beth didn't know what she did to her, they had never talked before and if she wanted Dean, she could have him.

_______________________________

Beth was glad she went with the blazer, she would have to take Ruby out for dinner as a thank you. It made her feel confident walking around the lot, rambling off random car lingo she picked up. 

"And this van is good when your hands are full". She opened the back door, showing the vans features. It had a vacuum, convenient sippy cup holders and the more that Beth looked at it, the more she wanted one for her own kids. Marcus was always spilling his snacks on the floorboard and it was only a matter of time before Jane would be doing the same, she just couldn't see Rio driving one around town.

"You don't want that" Dean interrupted and Beth's brows furrowed. What did he mean? She was close to a sale, of course that's what the dealership wanted. "You want that bad boy over there, it's like a Ferrari, only better".

"She has kids, Dean".

He passed the woman over a business card, "talk to your husband, it's a great deal".

Dean hadn't changed one bit and yet he wondered why Beth dated Rio, it wasn't brain surgery. With the sale no longer a possibility, she walked back into the showroom.

_____________________________

"Miss Marks, there's a delivery".

There were six cars in the first shipment and as she signed for them, they were unloaded on the east lot. They looked like typical used cars, a couple years dated and a few with dented bumpers, that didn't matter to their customers. It was a done deal, they had ten people already willing to pay three times the markup for their product. 

Dean was getting fifteen percent, which was more than Rio wanted to give him. They hated each other's guts and it all stemmed from highschool. If only the principal hadn't put restrictions on their homecoming dance, she would've gone with Rio and Dean wouldn't have been a part of the equation. Oh well, their past was the only thing making this possible. 

"Is that?" Dean stopped short of where she was standing, tilting his head toward a black Honda.

"You don't need to worry about it".

The less he knew the better. Ruby was certain he would throw them under the bus the second the police showed up, that did sound like him. Beth went into the back office and pulled out the ledger, marking down the vin numbers for each car. Rio told her not to leave a paper trail, but that's how she operated. If all else failed, she would destroy the evidence and hide the binder. 

_____________________________

Beth had been a part of Rio's gang - their gang, for six years and those eight hours at the dealership felt way longer than that. There was so much testosterone and they were all trying to sell the most cars at the highest price possible.

 _"I can sell ice to a polar bear"._ That's what Dean told her during orientation.

She sighed, stepping out of the elevator, struggling to find her keys in her large tote. Rio planned to stop by the warehouse earlier that morning, there were still a few things that needed to be ironed out, the main one being who was delivering what vehicle and to which customer.

Ruby would get the easiest drop, crime wasn't something she _wanted_ to do, it was more so something she _needed_ to do for her family. On top of that, Stan still had problems with Beth for dragging her into that life, he didn't need to say it for her to know. They gave Ruby a choice and she wanted to stay.

Annie wasn't the best at following directions and she always got lost when they told her to use a GPS. On an unrelated note, maybe they should give her one of the cars, hers was practically on life support.

Beth opened the door, instantly seeing Rio on the couch with the kids, from the looks of it they had guilted him into watching more Doc Mcstuffins. He hated that show.

"Momma" Marcus jumped onto his knees, leaning over the couch arm.

She took off her jacket, hanging it on the back of a chair. Deciding she'd wait until the kids were asleep to shower, Beth took a seat beside Rio and let Jane crawl onto her lap. Her baby girl hugged her and it reinstated why she was doing this, why both of them were working so hard to ensure the pills worked. It was for their family and ok, they both loved getting away with breaking the law, but it was mostly for the kids.

"Ey, pop, go get that drawlin you made".

He climbed off the couch, shortly followed by Jane, they were two peas in a pod. Rio waited until they were out of earshot, not that they'd know what they were talking about. "Unmarked black sedan circled the block".

"But I gave Noah a script".

Marcus came running back in, just as fast as he left. It was a picture of their family and Beth couldn't hide her smile when she saw the smiley face tattoo on Rio's neck.

"Jane drew fireworks".

"My little artists, should we hang it up?". He nodded, it would go perfect next to their other doodles, although most of Jane's so far were scribbles. 

____________________________

Beth stepped out of the shower and tried to wrap a towel around her, no matter how tight she put it, her chest wouldn't allow it. 

A plate of Ruby's famous lasagna awaited her on the bed, already warmed up and ready to eat. "Demon has three trays of em".

Beth chuckled, "I told her not to worry". Of course Ruby would stress cook and make way too much for anyone to actually eat. Although Demon living off lasagna for the next couple of weeks made the long hours worth it.

She knew that Rio and well, half of the gang wanted to be the one to put a bullet in Noah, even she had considered it once. It wasn't that easy though, they couldn't dump him in a ditch and call it a day, there was Annie. While Annie was pissed that he was a cop and lied to her since day one, she still tried to make it work because Noah said he gave up that life, doubling down on never turning them in. 

But what if he was? What if that was all a ruse because he knew they'd kill him if he didn't? That hadn't crossed Beth's mind until Rio mentioned unmarked vehicles. They needed to move the warehouse, they needed to protect their family. 

"I'll see if Stan's heard anything".

___________________________

After five gruelling days at Boland Motors, Beth was finally able to relax, well if counting money and sorting pills were anyone's idea of relaxing. The girls had gotten great at it, separating products based on buyer demand. Some wanted mostly beta blockers, others were in the market for boner pills.

It always made Annie laugh when she bundled viagra with acid reflux medication, _"now this sounds like a good time"._

They charged extra for speciality orders, it was a business after all. 

____________________________

"Humpty dumpty sat on the- " Beth paused, turning the book to Marcus.

"Wall".

"Humpty dumpty had a great".

"F..fa..fall".

Rio brought in Jane, placing her in the crib and decided to stick around while they finished the bedtime story. 

Jane tossed her stuffed animal onto the floor for the second time, "dada".

Beth laughed as Rio stood back up and walked over to their daughter, it became an every night event. Jane would throw her plushie or toy to the ground, whine until Rio would get it and then do it all over again once he sat down. She never did it around Beth, although Jane gave her a fair share of headbutts to the chest.

"The end" Marcus gleamed, closing the book.

_____________________________

Noah locked himself in the bathroom, something he hadn't done in months. He felt Annie distancing herself and saw the murderous glares from the members whenever he walked into the main hall, it was only a matter of time before they cut him loose. 

He did what anyone would do in that situation, fell back on what he knew and decided to provide Turner with valuable information. It rang for about a minute and Noah began to wonder if he was too late, if the FBI had caught on to his previous lies. Because he tried, he followed Beth's scripts down to the last period, it just didn't get him anywhere.

Noah was a cop first and foremost, he had wanted to become a detective and it was time to put himself first. Maybe, just maybe he could get the district attorney to cut Annie a plea deal and hand her a light sentence, he did care for her despite it all.

"If you're going to lie Noah, I don't have time for it"..

"Boland Motors" Noah said, quickly, hanging up before Jimmy had the chance to respond. 

He pressed his back against the wall, feeling the cold against his neck. "What have I done?".

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading & I can't wait to hear your thoughts! 
> 
> If anyone is interested, I decided to do a 2nd chapter of To The Highest Bidder, for the Annie/Mick & Beth/Rio dates.
> 
> As always, I'm on tumblr @ xstrawmari - if you want to chat Good Girls!


	15. Twenty six years old

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noah made one call, it can't be that bad, right?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had writers block when it came to Noah, but a couple amazing fandom friends (@5starwitch_, @ThatGirlKatlyn, actually everyone who replied to that tweet 😘) mentioned this story, so here we are.
> 
> I hope you enjoy!

It was full blown pandemonium at the warehouse, nobody knew what was going on other than the fact Noah went on the lam. If it weren't for him leaving a plane ticket to Arizona and a phone number on Annie's table, they never would've known. 

Noah told Annie he was using the restroom, something he had done a hundred times since they got together, so she didn't think much of him getting out of bed until she heard the door close. He didn't say goodbye, yet his note read _'if you're ever in Arizona, I love you'._ Leaving someone behind without so much of an explanation wasn't love.

"Men suck" she said, crumpling the number in her fist.

She had the worst luck when it came to men. Greg, her boyfriend all through highschool, cheated on her with a woman in the human resources department. Then there was her fling with Brad, or was it Bryan, either way it only lasted two days. 

Noah was supposed to break the vicious cycle of heartbreak, instead it broke her. Annie didn't know when she let herself care for him, but between the crying bouts, piles of used kleenex and empty pints of rocky road, all she wanted was to go back in time and reject him.

"Is there something wrong with me?".

"No, _he_ was shady"

Beth nodded in agreement, rubbing her sister's legs that were resting on her own. She would be by her side through a million breakups if it was needed, but that didn't make it any easier. Beth and Ruby had gotten lucky and found the love of their lives so early in life, that's all they wanted for Annie.

It took everything in Rio's power to stop the gang from boarding the first flight to Phoenix. They wanted to beat his ass for not only being a rat, but for hurting one of their own, because at the end of the day they were family.

Letting Noah live was one of Rio's biggest regrets. It would've been easier to let Demon handle it and turn out his lights, but he had to go and think about Annie's feelings. Leon told him at the age of six that love was for the weak and empathy would get him killed. He refused to believe that because Beth was his everything, his partner, the mother of his children, but this situation with Annie had him questioning if he had become too lenient. 

_____________________________

"3, 2,1, ready or not here I come" Beth yelled, slowly making her way through the living room. 

It was a difficult time for them professionally, trying to decide whether or not they needed another shutdown. It was all so frustrating. All they wanted to do was raise their kids and do crime, why was that so complicated?

Beth was paired with Jane, while Rio was with Marcus and just like when they were little, he let her start. He was just as cocky as he was at five and now that she knew he cheated back then, it was on.

Jane took off in the direction of their bedroom, she was just like her mom, always looking in the most obvious of places. "Mommy".

"Coming, bubba".

She was a little over two years old and they finally got her to use the potty on her own. And while that was an accomplishment, Jane now refused to put on pants. They win some, they lose some, but neither of them planned on shaming her for it.

"Marcus!" She stomped her feet, "Marcus".

Beth held back a laugh, so she inherited traits from Rio too. She could picture the smile on his face, wherever he was hiding, hearing her frustrated grunts as she wandered around the loft.

"How about the couch?" Beth asked, pointing in the direction of their sofa.

Jane nodded, grabbing her hand to drag her along. She giggled when Rio reached out to tickle her, falling into his lap. "Gettin better, mama".

"No cheating".

Yeah, maybe playing hide and seek just weeks shy of his twenty sixth birthday sounded ridiculous, but they were willing to do anything to take their mind off the tough decisions they soon would face. 

They wanted to ensure their employees got paid during the shutdown, it was far too risky to send them out looking for odd end jobs, that only increased their chances of being arrested. It wasn't just about them covering their own asses, the rat was gone and everyone else remained loyal. Even Raquel, much to Beth's surprise. 

Beth spent hours the night before racking her brain, trying to figure out what Noah could've told the police. He had to tell them something big enough that made him fear for his life. It could've been the cash, Canada, the pills or even the dealership. They wanted to have their hands in a little bit of everything to cover their tracks and it would suck if that was their downfall. 

They were tied after five rounds and collectively decided to call it after one final game. It was getting late, they needed to shower and get ready for bed. "Alright, Pop. Where they at?".

There weren't many places to hide in their home, it had an open floor plan. The couch was out of question because those were the rules they played by, and attempting to hide in a previous location meant automatic disqualification. If they didn't add that rule, the kids would play forever and neither of them had the energy to keep up with that.

Marcus pushed the bathroom door open, shaking his head when no one was inside. That was his third attempt to find them, having already checked behind the basketball hoop and the kitchen counter.

"Shoe".

Jane was learning vocabulary and it was the cutest thing. Rio knew if he waited, Beth wouldn't be able to help herself. "Good job, what's this?".

"Hat?".

Rio smiled, motioning for Marcus to join him. The sound came from the closet and he was kicking himself that he didn't notice the door was ajar. It was the sneeze incident all over again, one mishap was all it took to change the momentum in their favor.

Marcus peeked inside, "got you".

"How did you find us?".

Jane was on the floor beside her, one of her pink converse in hand. Beth saw them at the mall and they reminded her of what Rio always wore. Marcus was already his mini-me, from the button ups all the way down to his black socks and for once she wanted Jane to have something similar in her wardrobe. Although nothing melted Beth's heart quite like their mother-daughter dresses, they wore them for brunch with the girls and her phone was loaded with pictures. 

"I'm smart" Marcus chimed, standing up straight.

Yup, just like his father and the look on Rio's face showed that he agreed.

With the kids asleep, they decided it was time to sit down and really evaluate their future, at least until they found out what the FBI knew. They had their contacts and Stan digging into anything and everything Turner related, only to come up short. 

"Still nothing from Phil?".

Beth sat on the bed, tucking a leg beneath her. The man who showed up at her apartment years ago gave zero fucks about hiding his case. He made it perfectly clear within minutes that he was after Rio and then proceeded to knock their relationship and bring her family into it. 

"Nah, said Turner's been hidin in a back room".

"I'll finish the last batch of cars and we're done".

Rio shook his head, "It's dangerous, Elizabeth".

"We need to pay everyone. Sara needs that new allergy pill, Annie has rent and Cisco's mom has that double knee replacement coming up".

Beth moved to straddle his lap, running her hands down his chest until she was cupping him over his sweatpants. It wasn't playing dirty.

"Elizabeth-".

"Yes?" She played coy, grinding against him. 

He growled, eyes dropping to her chest as she removed her shirt. 

"One week, then you done".

Beth nodded, laughing when he rolled her onto her back, now hovering over her. Going back to the dealership in such uncertain times was a gamble, a gamble only she could take to ensure that they were covered when shit hit the fan. Even though Rio was scared for her safety, not that he'd admit it, he wouldn't stop her.

________________________________

Beth was on edge from the moment she stepped out of the van. All her thoughts were racing at a million miles a second and she was just waiting for the swat vehicles to surround her, then forcing her onto her stomach with a knee pressed into her back.

When none of that happened, she let out a sigh of relief. She didn't want to deal with being arrested on a Monday morning, that was more of a Saturday dilemma. 

"This van is great for kids, it's got screens in the headrests and this right here" she said, stepping around to the back, "is a built in vacuum".

Beth picked up on tricks at the dealership, the difference was that she focused on women and their needs, not just trying to sell them whatever was closest to get a quick commission. Dean's primary focus was the sports cars, the mustangs and corvettes that filled the showroom, but he went about it all wrong. It was a terrible sales practice, women didn't like being belittled and told to ask their husbands before _they_ purchased a vehicle. He was stuck in the 1900's and needed to join them in the future.

"We could be good at this, Bethie, you and me".

She looked up from the form, "what?".

"This, us. You can't expect to be with him forever".

"What?" Beth repeated, brows creased.

"He's a criminal, what kind of life can he give you from behind bars?".

Beth scoffed, walking off. The audacity of that man. Never and she means never would she exchange Rio for Dean and the knowledge that he thought that's what was going to happen made her sick to her stomach. If the FBI found out about the dealership, Dean wouldn't hesitate to throw Rio under the bus and she knew they wouldn't question it since he was Turner's target.

She sat in the breakroom, scrolling through pictures on her phone. There were a few saved from before Rio got his throat tatt and he looked like an entirely different person, then came the hospital album where they were posing with their newborns. Those three people were her heart and she wasn't going to let Dean, the FBI or some random John Doe in the streets take that away from her.

"Bethie, I care about you".

Dean sat down opposite of her, surprisingly giving her space.

"I love Rio, Dean and nothing's going to change that".

______________________________

Annie rolled her eyes, "Deansie's a dick".

"You think every man's a dick".

"And I'm right" she shrugged, ripping up another photo of Noah. It was one from the shooting range, they were joking around and Cisco thought it would be great for Beth's scrapbook. Beth didn't deny it, but thought Annie would appreciate it more. 

She had a gun pressed to Noah's temple, it was a couple weeks after they got together. He eventually got the hang of her humor and decided to roll with it, much to her surprise. "I should've smoked him right there".

"Annie -".

"I'm kidding" she lowered her voice to a whisper, "sort of".

Ruby simply poured them all a drink, knowing it was only a matter of time before Annie snapped out of her funk and went on with her grieving process. It usually resulted in a one night stand or two, she once brought home three fish, there was no way of knowing what her outlet would be this time around.

_____________________________

On Thursday their shipment came, it was only three cars due to the impending shutdown. 

Ruby swung by around noon to take the first car, it was being dropped off at an apartment building on the southside and Stan was going to pick her up. The second car was going to Sterling Heights and Demon was already heading that way to visit his sister, so Rio told him to take care of it. Beth personally was going to handle the third drop after work, it would add five minutes to her route, but she didn't want their employees to feel like they were above them all.

But then Friday came.

Beth was changing the prices on a couple of their older vehicles, they were taking up space that could be used for more sports cars and Dean wanted them gone. They were marking down the prices to two and three thousand dollars each.

_"We'll make up the difference when we sell these vettes" he said, flipping through a catalog._

_"You haven't sold one yet"._

_"These things don't just happen, Beth, it takes the right kind of customer"._ Sure, or he was using all the wrong sales techniques and the customers wanted something more practical.

"You sold more than the guys and Bob's been here for ten years".

"Really?"

"Yeah" Dean smiled, looking over his computer, "You don't need to do crime for him, Bethie".

There it was, the real reason he called her into his office, and Beth was close to forgiving him for the nonsense he spewed earlier in the week. She was proud despite the dealership not being her primary job, she worked hard to contribute to the team. "I'm not doing this for him".

"Oh, come on. You got straight A's and now you're a drug dealer".

Red and blue flickering lights were approaching and the buzzing in Beth's pocket told her all she needed to know, she needed to get rid of the ledger. It was the key to their entire operation, vin numbers, locations and buyers. If the FBI got their hands on it, they'd go down for years.

Just the thought of being in prison and missing the kid's first days of kindergarten, their first school dance and first dates, it killed her.

Through tear-filled eyes, Beth ripped sheet after sheet out of the binder.

"Don't hurt her" she heard Dean yell, followed by footsteps ascending up the hall.

She flushed the pile of scraps, using the plunger when the water rose to the top. Panic set in, her chest heaved and she was sweating from places she didn't know had glands. 

Beth grabbed her phone out of her back pocket, a text from Rio appeared on the screen, "get out, Elizabeth!".

"Miss Marks, are you in there?".

Three more knocks, "we'll bust down the door if you don't open it".

Shoving the empty binder in the ceiling tile, Beth took a deep breath and stepped out, bracing herself for the unknown. "Agent Turner, right?".

The employees were not allowed to leave and Beth was held in the break room with two guards, she wasn't that big of a threat. The FBI tore apart the dealership, popping open the airbag compartments for every car in the showroom. They came up empty. 

"You're free to go".

She picked her bag up from the table and yes, they went through it, but she had nothing to hide. Now if they were a day or so earlier that would've been a whole other story, but if Beth picked up anything from Rio, it was to always be prepared. It might sound extreme, but she's done run throughs on break.

"I can't prove it yet, Miss Marks, but I will".

"I don't think so. Have a nice night, Jimmy".

_______________________________

Rio was pacing around the living room when she unlocked the door, the kids were passed out on the couch, tucked in with a quilt she made over the weekend. 

"He found nothing".

He ran his hand over his lower face and rushed forward, capturing her lips. Beth smiled into it, pulling back, just slightly. "Put the kids to bed, then we'll celebrate". To make sure her point was clear, she moved her hand to his ass and winked.

"I fucking love you".

They were meant for eachother and there was no way in hell either of them were taking permanent residence in a jailhouse, not as long as the other was out and fighting. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for reading! I can't wait to hear your thoughts! 
> 
> I'm on tumblr @ xstrawmari


	16. Twenty seven years old (part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What's next?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi!. 
> 
> Just wanted to thank everyone for reading my drabbles while I took WAY to long to update this one. ❤❤
> 
> And I hope you enjoy this chapter and as always, thanks for reading!

It was the beginning of August and they had been shut down for seven months. Everyone was itching to get back to work but they couldn't risk it. They were waiting for their FBI contacts to confirm that Turner had backed off. It was one thing to have the feds on their back when they were younger, it was an entirely different situation if it meant their children could be taken away.

Marcus ran around the living room gathering his pencil case and workbooks to put into his spiderman backpack. It was his first day of Kindergarten and Beth would be lying if she said that she wasn't feeling emotional. That was her baby, he was growing up fast.

"Ready, pop?".

He nodded, excited that in a couple of hours he would have new friends.

_Beth was lying in bed, watching whatever game show was on when she felt a kick to her right side. Then it happened again._

_"Rio! He's kicking"._

_He quickly turned off the stove and rushed into the room. Beth placed his hand on her stomach in hopes that it'd happen again._

_The doctor told them now that she reached twenty five weeks it was a possibility that she'd feel him. Rio already had them taking turns reading bedtime stories, he saw on a forum that babies often responded to the sound of their parent's voices._

_Rio smiled when he felt the next one against his palm. "It doesn't feel real"._

_He never expected to have a family, at least not one outside of the gang, not with the way Leon raised him. It was because Beth fought for it and made it a reality that he was going to be a dad._

_"He's going to be a soccer player"._

_"Nah, our boys a goalie"._

Their plan was for Marcus and Jane to attend the same elementary school they did way back when, but the loft was outside of district limits so they had to open enroll. 

They walked down the halls, Jane on her hip while Marcus held onto Rio's hand. The school hadn't changed one bit. The lockers were still a rusted orange, macaroni artwork still adorned the walls and the library still had a selection of free books out front.

Beth remembered their fourth week together in Mrs. Jones's class. They took a class trip to the water fountain and Rio got the great idea to race back to the classroom. She guessed there was always a part of them that enjoyed breaking the rules.

They didn't even make it to the stairwell before their teacher called them back, scolding them for running in the hall. 

Jane tried to wiggle out of her hold and Beth stopped, setting her down to walk rest of the way to room 102.

Much to their surprise they were met with the same Mrs. Jones from their past. She was stocky, but now had shoulder length grey hair and a pencil tucked behind her ear. "Are my eyes deceiving me? I saw Vasquez on the roster, but I didn't expect to see you two again".

Marcus hid behind Beth's leg, "this is Marcus, come out, honey".

"Pop, it's alright".

Mrs. Jones laughed, "I must say I'm not shocked you two ended up together. Both of you had a tantrum whenever I paired you with anyone else" she knelt down, "and what's your name?".

"Jane".

"That's a pretty name. And how old are you?".

Jane looked up at Rio, then down at her fingers, holding up a three "this many".

"She's three," Marcus confirmed, peeking out from Beth's side. It did worry Beth about how Jane would take it when she realized that Marcus had to be at school for five hours, they were pretty much inseparable since her birth.

_"Ok, I'm going to need you to start pushing" the doctor instructed, taking his spot at her feet._

_Was she crying or sweating? Beth didn't know, but the pain was excruciating. The epidural either didn't take or it hadn't kicked in yet, making the whole process ten times worse._

_She screamed, squeezing Rio's hand._

_Beth leaned her head back against the pillow, taking a few deep breaths before trying again. She groaned, bringing her knees back slightly to her chest._

_"One more big push when you're ready"._

_"I can't"._

_"Elizabeth, you the strongest person I know, one more". Rio brushed a couple strands of hair off her sweaty forehead, then kissed her hand. He braced himself for the next, "Ahhhh"._

_The head crowned and she was instructed to let her contractions do rest of the work, but that was easier said than done._

_"Congratulations, it's a boy"._

_Beth waited for the nurse to bring their son over. She held him to her chest, the pad of her thumb brushing over his small hair. "Marcus._ _He looks just like you"._

_Marcus's hand wrapped around Rio's pinky, "you incredible, ma"._

_She breathed a laugh, trying not to disturb their little one. Every up and down in their relationship made this moment worth it. "I love you too"._

Mrs. Jones asked if he wanted to pick out a spot on the rainbow carpet, inferring from his navy button-up that his favorite color was blue.

Marcus nodded, waving to his parents as he followed the teacher inside the classroom. Jane tried to follow and Rio chased after her, "nah, lil' mama, not yet".

▪︎

It was supposed to be a one night stand, the final step to getting Noah out of her system. It started out with some light touching during a pool game, then a little kissing in the storage room at the bar. What could Annie say, closets were her kryptonite.

Annie knew it was only a matter of time before she brought a random guy or gal back to her place, however she wasn't expecting it to be Raquel. 

For the longest time they swore she wanted to be rivals with Beth over a crush on Rio, at least that was the rumor around the organization, but once Rio made it perfectly clear that Beth was there to stay, Raquel stuck to guarding the warehouse against unwelcome visitors. 

They'd been at it for three weeks, meeting up every weekend. 

Raquel's long brunette hair was tossed into a messy bun, her makeup was off and the zombie bride tattoo on her shoulder peeked out from under the covers. "You don't gotta leave, stay?".

Annie answered by pulling Raquel into a kiss, moaning as a finger slipped between her folds. Raquel rubbed her clit, using her freehand to hold down Annie's hip when she began to squirm beneath her. "Oh!".

"Takin' that as a yes, Marks".

▪︎

They needed to make a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some last minute items. Some hamburger buns, ketchup, flour and powdered sugar for the cinnamon rolls. Then they got to the checkout. 

Beth missed crime, probably just as much as Rio did. She was now going on eight years with the gang.

She needed something to give her a thrill, that's when she saw the chapstick hanging off to the side of the candy bars. It was small and could easily be hidden in her jacket pocket. 

Beth looked up, ensuring the security guards eyes were elsewhere. Rio was blocking the cashier's view, unintentionally, although if he knew of her plan he certainly would have helped out.

Reaching over, Beth grabbed the chapstick from the bottom and tucked it into her sleeve. 

Jane raised her hands up from inside the cart and Beth made her way over to pick her up, pleased that she hadn't raised any suspicion. 

▪︎

"And..and there were legos" Marcus rambled on about his favorite things from school. It ranged from toys to his fun classmates, even noting that there was a class bunny. 

Beth glanced over at Rio, both were relieved that he had a good time. There was always that voice in the back of their minds that he'd be treated a certain way because of who the other parents assumed they were. Well, their assumptions were correct for the most part, they both were gang leaders, they preferred the term crime bosses but that was neither here nor there.

"I'm glad you had fun, honey".

"I wanna go back".

Rio chuckled, stopping at another red light "tomorrow, pop, alright?".

He nodded enthusiastically, trying not to wake a sleeping Jane. She was worn out, the poor little thing tried her damndest to stay awake while they waited for Marcus and she came so close, falling asleep mere minutes before he ran out the front door.

▪︎

Ruby placed a grilled cheese in front of Sara, urging her to take a break from her rubix cube.

"Hey, babe".

Stan gave her a peck to the cheek. He had been working overtime for the past four weeks. The FBI wanted to know about Noah's whereabouts, it turned out he left them in the dark and they feared he was dead. Considering he was undercover with Rio's organization at the time, that only put a bigger target on his back.

Luckily for them Turner was terrible at his job and didn't realize that Stan was married to Beth's best friend. All it would have taken was a simple Facebook search, there were pictures of all four of them together dating fourteen years back.

"Turner's backing off the dealership, he's more interested in Noah than Rio".

"So we're good?".

Even though Stan had helped them out on more than one occasion, Ruby knew he wanted her out for good and if his sigh that followed her question was any indication, that was still his hope. "yeah"

▪︎

Rio knew all about her chapstick heist, of course he did. The first question he asked when he stepped into the room was which flavor she grabbed. 

"Strawberry".

He hummed, "you missin' it, huh?".

"Aren't you?".

Rio nodded, reaching for the tie on her robe, "ain't gotta worry 'bout that much longer, we'll be back".

"Good". They were both going stir crazy waiting for the shutdown to be lifted and they needed cash. While it seemed like a great idea to keep everyone on payroll, their safety net was slowly dwindling and they had two kids of their own to take care of.

It didn't help that baby fever was hitting her at least once a week. She blamed it on the kids growing up and the fact she kept looking at their baby albums. Even Rio would find himself reminiscing over Marcus's small baseball mitt or the tutu Ruby got Jane that no longer fit. 

Beth playfully pushed him onto the bed and straddled his lap, rocking her hips as she kissed Rio's neck. 

If it happened, it happened, that was their motto, but neither of them wanted Beth to sacrifice her criminal career. She had worked tirelessly to earn the respect of gang members who had been doing it longer than Rio, and she'd even become feared amongst a few of them.

▪︎

Ruby was speechless when she turned on the news the following morning. FBI agents were ambushed outside of an abandoned warehouse, five were confirmed dead and three were in critical condition at an unnamed hospital. 

The anchor mentioned the FBI received an anonymous tip about gang activity and went to make a bust. "Now the footage you are about to see is disturbing".

It was surveillance footage from a nearby street camera. A black van pulled up and agents started dropping like flies, but it was far enough away that no one could be recognized. 

Agent Turner's photo flashed across the screen and she rushed for her phone, "Beth, was Rio home last night? Ok, then who did this?".


	17. Twenty seven years old (part 2)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Does anyone remember this? Huge thanks to Tiara for keeping on me about updating this one. I'm sorry about the long wait. 
> 
> As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!

Until they figured out who was behind the attack, they were assigned protection detail. Their more experienced members were already packing twenty-four seven, but Ruby was practically allergic to guns and Annie was far too eager so Rio never gave her one.

Stan kept his ears open at the station just in case some of the tips actually panned out. It was a no brainer that he would protect Ruby and their kids should shit hit the fan. The surprise of a lifetime came when Raquel volunteered to watch Annie's back.

_"I would rather Mick watch my sister"._

_Raquel's harsh comments about Annie and Noah still made Beth's fist clench. If it weren't for Rio, she would've kicked her out of their little club._

_Raquel snickered, "trust me, no one wants Annie alive more than I do"._

_"It's fine, sis"._

Beth still hadn't gotten to the bottom of that, but she continued showing up to meetings and Raquel answered during her check-ins so something was working. 

■

They went to the memorial that was set up outside of the abandoned warehouse. Crime tape was still wrapped around broken mailboxes, blocking mourners from stepping onto the crime scene. There were flowers, photos and for some reason several teddy bears on the lot.

"So he's _dead_ dead," Annie said, pouring a bit of her coffee at her feet. She saw it on a tv show once.

"That's not how it works".

Beth placed a gas station bouquet of red and yellow flowers beside Turner's photo. They were fake. "I guess we're back in business".

Ruby pivoted to look at her best friend, "just like that?".

"Yeah".

They already questioned each and every one of their employees about their whereabouts Saturday night and came up with nothing. Ruby asked a million times whether or not Rio was involved because she could see him taking a preemptive strike against the FBI behind her back. He wouldn't, at least Beth didn't think he would and besides, Beth remembered exactly where Rio was that night. It was hard enough getting alone time with two kids under six, so when they did they had to make the most of it and Rio certainly knew how.

There was also a $50,000 reward for any information that led to an arrest in the case, and considering the story aired on every station and was on the front page of their newspaper, it wouldn't be long until the tip lines were flooded with false reports. 

■

That Friday Marcus ran out of his classroom, waving a single sheet of paper in the air.

"What's that, pop?".

"For you and mommy" he said, suddenly tugging on Rio's arm, "I want ice cream".

"Y'know you can't without your sister. We'll go later, kay?". There was a visible pout on Marcus's face, but nevertheless he agreed. 

The paper was for career day. Mrs. Johnson wanted students to dress up like their parents and give a brief description of what they did. It wouldn't have been an issue if they were doctors, lawyers or waiters, but they were full-fledged criminals and he couldn't see anyone other than Leon approving of that.

"I wanna wear your beanie, daddy".

"Sure, lil man".

■

With everything going on the last thing either of them wanted to do was cook, so Beth picked up pizza on the ride home. A small cheese for Jane and a large pepperoni for the rest to share. Once they were finished and their plates were cleaned, Rio decided to show Beth the flyer for career day. 

"I guess we can make something up".

"Like what, car salesman?".

Beth laughed loudly, immediately covering her mouth so she wouldn't wake the kids. Shaking her head she took a few steps towards him and slowly began to unbutton his shirt. "I never wanted Dean".

"Ain't like I can go in talkin about my initiation and how you had to feed me soup cause I couldn't move, or how our name means somethin and I gotta pack a gun –".

"–Rio" Beth cut him off, "you're an amazing dad and that's what counts".

He sat on the bed, letting his legs dangle off the edge. He looked exhausted and Beth couldn't blame him, she too was tired of this mess. It would've been less stressful on them all if they didn't have to worry about being the next target. She was constantly looking over her shoulder at little league practice and the grocery store.

"I ordered the hit" Rio confessed out of nowhere.

Beth's eyes widened. She constructed a whole timeline for that day, it wasn't possible. "When?".

Leon taught him from a young age to fight back and strike before their enemies had a chance to, but this was a federal agent, a well known member on the force. 

"Jane had a nightmare".

Beth had gotten out of bed, threw on her favorite red floral robe and went to rub Jane's back until she fell back asleep. "But how?".

"Texted Mick and he handled it. Got shit in place for stuff like this".

"Ok" Beth said, climbing onto his lap. He easily wrapped his arms around her waist to keep her from falling backwards.

"That's it?".

She nodded, "that's it".

There wasn't anything she could do about it now and it could've been far worse if Turner gathered his intel and arrested one of them. Beth refused to miss their kids' birthdays and Christmas.

Rio unclasped her bra and slipped his hand down the front of her panties. She began to move her hips, ready to celebrate their new start, but Rio had other plans. Beth whined at the loss when he pulled away with a smirk.

"Ain't gonna ask why?".

She shook her head, "you had a good reason" 

Everything he did was to protect his family. They were the only good things in his life and he was relieved Beth knew that. The worst part was that he enjoyed it. 

"I'm proud of you" Beth whispered against his lips.

■

Part of Marcus's assignment was to make a presentation board. Some of the ideas were to include family photos and pictures of their parents on the job, and as much as Beth would love to glue the one of Annie holding Mick at gunpoint, she figured Mrs. Johnson wouldn't appreciate that. It would stay in her own scrapbook. 

Rio sat beside her on the couch going through boxes of photos her parents had saved over the years. Camila had a few at her house that she refused to part with.

"Your sixth birthday" Beth held up a photo of a blindfolded Rio, "your mom bought the biggest car pinata I had ever seen and we kept missing it".

"Nah, you missed. I broke it open".

She passed it down to Marcus so he could tape it onto the board. They decided to roll the tape so it would be easier to remove and add back to her book when the project was over. 

Rio suddenly smiled at a polaroid, "you kept it".

Beth snatched it from his hand. It was from his 70s themed senior prom. She wore blue bell bottoms and tucked in a white shirt, while Rio had on blue button-down with a large collar. They were in a trunk his mom had in the basement and with a few adjustments fit them perfectly. His eyes were closed in the picture and he wanted her to toss it, but Beth couldn't.

"You slept over and I got grounded when my dad found out".

"Didn't stop me from sneakin in the next night".

Beth laughed and tucked the photo back into her collection. It really didn't. 

They ended up taping a couple pictures of the gang at a picnic so it looked more like a family gathering and less like an initiation celebration. The story they decided on was that they owned their own lucrative business and had plans for expansion. Marcus wouldn't know any different since they kept him from their actual work.

■

"Son of a bitch" Ruby exclaimed while she paced around the kitchen. Beth had to tell them Rio orchestrated the attack.

Annie blinked, "wait, are you smiling?".

"It's just… it's over, now we can do whatever we want". 

They stared at Beth blankly as she quickly turned her attention back to the oven. Pot roast, potatoes and carrots, one of the many recipes passed down from her grandmother. "Are you guys staying for dinner? I'll put down extra placemats".

"Uh… sure".

"And you have to see the cute poster Marcus made for career day".

_"There's this guy Sanchez, calls himself the king. He got guys movin weed, guns and pills around northern Michigan" Rio said and Beth nodded to let him know she was listening._

_Leon had eyes and ears all over, so it was important to keep him in the loop just in case he heard chatter about the feds moving in. He never stopped believing Rio would become a better version of himself, so he was elated to find out there was a cop murder under his son's belt. That was a big deal in their line of work._

_"To be the king, you gotta kill the king" Leon constantly reminded them growing up. Who would've thought it was about a rival gang leader they'd eventually have to face._

_"Yea, we need him gone"._

Some things were better kept between Rio and herself. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks again for reading! I'm on tumblr xstrawmari if you want to talk Good Girls!


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